As the first day of the Emir of Qatar’s state visit to Britain draws to a close, all those involved in this its organisation might allow themselves a larger-than-usual measure of Christmas cheer. From Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani’s arrival in the country earlier today, the lavish pageantry of his welcome by the King, Prince and Princess of Wales and Keir Starmer, amongst many other dignitaries, has been precision-designed to make sure that the Emir has as enjoyable and eventful a visit to the country as possible.
Tamim is a resolute Anglophile, who was educated at Harrow, Sherborne and Sandhurst, and Qatar remains a vital investor in British infrastructure. In other words, this was a state visit undertaken for pragmatic reasons, where the optics on all sides have been carefully designed to be as flattering and rewarding for all parties as they can conceivably be. Keeping the Emir happy is crucial for diplomacy and business alike, and the less savoury aspects of his regime – the rumoured human rights violations, his cosiness with Vladimir Putin and the country’s complete absence of democracy – will not be brought up except in the most carefully euphemistic terms. (‘We had a free and fair election this year, Sheikh Tamim. Ever thought about having such a thing yourself?’)
The royal family know that they are an invaluable component of such a high-profile event. It was testament to the government’s swaying power that Princess Catherine was present earlier in the day, alongside her husband and father-in-law, although the Queen’s continued ill health recovering from pneumonia – rather than the chest infection it was originally described as – has meant that she has had to forgo the public-facing aspects of the day. She was nonetheless expected to attend the State Banquet this evening, which Catherine will forgo, meaning that the Emir has seen every major royal for an extended period on his visit. Such periods of ‘face time’ may be more welcome with some country’s rulers than others. Qatari absolute rulers who were nevertheless privately educated and went to Sandhurst may be more socially appealing than the next American president.
Yet, even as the King was ceremoniously gifted a limestone and blue sodalite side table with geometric shell and brass inlays, inspired by the decoration of the Amiri Diwan building, some unwelcome memories of previous dealings with the Qatar regime may have resurfaced. In 2022, it was revealed that the-then Prince Charles had taken millions of pounds in cash the previous decade – in Fortnum and Mason carrier bags, naturally – from Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, the former prime minister of Qatar, and a figure nicknamed ‘the man who bought London’. Although there was no suggestion of cash for access, and Clarence House made it clear that the money ‘passed immediately to one of the prince’s charities who carried out the appropriate covenants and assured us that all the correct processes were followed’, the transaction still looked dodgy and underhand, at best. Nobody asked what Sheikh Hamad received for his money, but perhaps they did not need to.
This has been a grim year for the royal family. The past few months have seen the ship steady itself somewhat, although the Queen’s absence from public life remains a concern for her many admirers, and this state visit should have been a triumphant reminder that Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace can do pageantry and pomp like nobody else in the world when they need to. From this perspective, mission accomplished, thus far at any rate. But from another, there is the worrying suspicion that an event like this shows that access to the royal family can be bought by the deep-pocketed, like any other commodity. For all the smiles, handshakes and bonhomie, this state visit is a sobering reminder that, in the immortal words of Wesley Snipes in New Jack City, ‘“’money talks, and bullshit runs a marathon’. Qatari investment in Britain may be a necessary evil, but those responsible for courting it should remember both parts of that well-known and consistently accurate phrase.