12 photos from the first documented British royal tour of the Middle East


Alexandra Chaves
  • English
  • Arabic

In 1862, Albert Edward, son of Queen Victoria and then Prince of Wales, went on an educational tour of the Middle East in preparation to become king.

The four-month journey was documented by English photographer Francis Bedford, making it the first royal tour to be captured through photography.

Albert Edward – who would later become King Edward VII in 1901 – began his trip with his entourage in Egypt, then proceeded to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and Greece.

The expedition was arranged by Queen Victoria shortly after her husband Prince Albert's death. Through his trip, the royal was meant to learn history, religion and politics for his role as king.

More importantly, the British government sought to establish strong ties to Egypt’s then ruler Said Pasha. As the Ottoman Empire was set to collapse, Britain wanted to prevent the French from taking control of the Suez Canal.

Along the trip, Bedford's lens focused on the region's numerous historical landmarks, religious sites, as well as the desert landscapes and unique terrains. He created more than 200 images, during which he carried a caravan of equipment – from lenses, tripods, crates for chemicals, glass plates and more.

Bedford's albumen prints also provide insight into how Victorian England came to perceive the Middle East, and shone light on sites that had never been photographed before, including chapels and temples.

Click through the gallery to see photographs of the 1862 royal tour chronicled by Bedford.

The photographs are part of a virtual exhibition organised by Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham, entitled Sights of Wonder: Photographs from the 1862 Royal Tour. It is the institute’s first online-only show, created to adhere to the coronavirus lockdown in the UK.

Sights of Wonder is developed in collaboration with the University of Birmingham's department of art history and is curated by a small group of graduate students.

The Prince of Wales and party among the ruins in the Hypostyle Hall, Temple of Amun, Karnak. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020
The Prince of Wales and party among the ruins in the Hypostyle Hall, Temple of Amun, Karnak. Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020

While browsing the tour online, visitors are provided helpful information on the photographs and the prince’s activities during the tour. The show begins in Egypt, where the royal entourage visited the Pyramids of Giza, as well as temples in Edfu.

In Jerusalem, the tour stopped by the Dome of the Rock and the Garden of Gethsemane, while in Damascus, Bedford snapped a portrait of Abd Al Qadir, an Islamic scholar and military leader who helped Christians escape conflict between Maronites and Druze in Syria around the 1860s. The prince and Bedford eventually made it to Istanbul, stopping by Hagia Sophia, and then Greece.

The Middle East royal tour is only one of several trips the Prince of Wales had to undertake. In 1875, he visited 21 towns and cities in modern-day India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka, and was a guest at more than 90 royal courts.

Sights of Wonder virtual exhibition can be viewed online at sightsofwonder.barber.org.uk

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Emiliano Alfaro (Pune City) The Uruguayan striker has played for Liverpool – the Montevideo one, rather than the better-known side in England – and Lazio in Italy. He was prolific for a season at Al Wasl in the Arabian Gulf League in 2012/13. He returned for one season with Fujairah, whom he left to join Pune.

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UAE cricketers abroad

Sid Jhurani is not the first cricketer from the UAE to go to the UK to try his luck.

Rameez Shahzad Played alongside Ben Stokes and Liam Plunkett in Durham while he was studying there. He also played club cricket as an overseas professional, but his time in the UK stunted his UAE career. The batsman went a decade without playing for the national team.

Yodhin Punja The seam bowler was named in the UAE’s extended World Cup squad in 2015 despite being just 15 at the time. He made his senior UAE debut aged 16, and subsequently took up a scholarship at Claremont High School in the south of England.

Major honours

ARSENAL

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BARCELONA

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  • Copa del Rey - 2012
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CHELSEA

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SPAIN

  • World Cup - 2010
  • European Championship - 2008, 2012
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'The worst thing you can eat'

Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.

Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines: 

Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.

Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.

Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.

Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.

Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.

THE DETAILS

Kaala

Dir: Pa. Ranjith

Starring: Rajinikanth, Huma Qureshi, Easwari Rao, Nana Patekar  

Rating: 1.5/5 

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The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Part three: an affection for classic cars lives on

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Herc's Adventures

Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5

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MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:

Ajax 2-3 Tottenham

Tottenham advance on away goals rule after tie ends 3-3 on aggregate

Final: June 1, Madrid

Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi

From: Dara

To: Team@

Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT

Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East

Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.

Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.

I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.

This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.

It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.

Uber on,

Dara

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