The Prince of Wales will make his first official visit to Saudi Arabia next month, Kensington Palace has announced.
A palace spokesman said that Prince William, 43, had been asked to make the trip between February 9 and 11 “on the request of His Majesty’s government”. He will undertake meetings in Riyadh and is also expected to visit the desert.
A spokesman added that the UK and Saudi Arabia were celebrating “growing trade, energy and investment ties … as the two nations approach a century of diplomatic relations”.
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William has visited the region before, travelling to Oman in 2019. However, this will be his first time in Saudi Arabia and the visit is a precursor to the two countries marking a century of diplomatic relations in 2027.
In 2022 Sir Keir Starmer criticised Boris Johnson for visiting to the oil-rich country, saying that “going cap in hand from dictator to dictator” was not an energy policy. Two years later, in December 2024, Starmer made his own visit.
William in Oman, 2019
TIM ROOKE/ALAMY
He also visited British troops in Kuwait
ALAMY
Speaking in the capital, Riyadh, Starmer said the “number-one mission” of his trip was to grow the UK economy and that his “sole intention” was to use the opportunity to raise living standards in Britain. He said he been “making the case that now’s the time for further investment into our country”.
Sir Keir Starmer met the Saudi Arabian crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, during an official visit in December 2024
KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH/POOL VIA REUTERS
After a meeting with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, Starmer said they had discussed “the steps taken by the crown prince’s government to improve human rights under “Saudi Vision 2030”. The programme was launched by the country’s government and the crown prince to develop new urban areas, promote international tourism and deliver large-scale projects such as Neom, the country’s futuristic multitrillion-dollar city in the desert.
The plans have been criticised by human rights advocates who allege that more than 21,000 workers died on development projects in Saudi between 2017 and 2024. In particular, a former intelligence officer told the BBC that Saudi authorities permitted the use of lethal force to clear land for the Neom development.
In 2020, the UK raised concerns over Saudi Arabia’s human rights record and sanctioned 20 Saudi nationals involved in the killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. On October 2, 2018, Khashoggi, a US-based journalist and critic of the Saudi government, was killed after he walked into the country’s consulate in Istanbul.
More recently, Saudi Arabia has been at the heart of new tensions in the Gulf region. On Monday the Saudi-backed Yemeni government accused the United Arab Emirates of running a secret prison at an airbase near the south Yemeni port city of Mukalla — an allegation denied by Abu Dhabi.
Saudi Arabia has also been accused of using “sportswashing” to improve its global reputation. In 2024, FIFA announced that Saudi Arabia would host the football World Cup in 2034, becoming the second time the tournament has been held in a single Middle Eastern country, after Qatar in 2022.