In the resort of Southsea on the English southern coast, neighbours remember the last Sultan of Zanzibar as a quiet man with few trappings of royalty except for a beautiful red Mercedes that was washed every week or two.
Sayyid Jamshid Al Said fled his home on the east coast of Zanzibar in 1964 amid a violent coup only a month after the idyllic island gained independence from Britain and six months into his own reign. Denied long-term refuge in Oman, to where many from Zanzibar trace their lineage, the British government instead stepped in.
Now 91, he spent more than 50 years living in Southsea, Portsmouth, on a quiet street not far from where some of the British Navy’s most powerful assets are stationed.
Earlier this month, he left his long-time home – with no fanfare, according to residents who knew him – after finally being granted his wish to live in Oman by the new ruler in Muscat and his distant relative, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said.
Local ward councillor Hugh Mason says there was a sizeable Arab community from Zanzibar in Mr Al Said’s early years in Southsea, although it has since declined.
Mr Mason – who has been a councillor for 16 years and has lived locally for four decades – describes Mr Al Said as a quiet and friendly man who kept to himself.
“It’s the type of place where the Sultan of Zanzibar would not have looked out of place in the street,” Mr Mason said.
“If he didn’t draw attention to himself by any means – which he didn’t – you would not notice him. There were probably quite a number of people in Albert Grove who did not know he lived there,” he says, referring to a road adjoining Victoria Grove where Mr Al Said lived.
While Mr Mason’s dealings with the last Sultan of Zanzibar were limited to the two men bumping into each other on the street, an image comes across of a quiet but respectful man.
“He was not flamboyant in any way,” says Mr Mason, who adds that he was typically neatly dressed in western clothes and courteous in the street, but played no part in local affairs.
“His neighbours spoke of his collection of Zanzibari items and he was always showing people his stamp collection. He had all the stamps from Zanzibar from the 1860s right the way through to the 1960s. He was rather proud of that.” Whether his face adorned any of the stamps in the collection is not known, but some were printed by him.
Few visited Mr Al Said’s residence and those that did appeared to be family members or those with connections to Zanzibar.
Mr Mason says that 30 or 40 years ago it was common knowledge that the former Sultan was a local resident, but that appeared to be less and less the case as the years rolled by.
“He didn’t socialise with anybody in this neighbourhood. This end of the street, we’re all friends and there are always lots of things going on,” says Ellie Creed, who lives on Victoria Grove.
Her husband Chris was one of the few who did briefly go inside Mr Al Said’s home, around 15 years ago. He describes the former sultan as “a very lovely gentleman” who would often talk about the weather.
“There was no sense of him being important,” he added.
Mr Creed says there were no outlandish trappings of royalty. If anything, it was quite a dark place and certainly did not seem particularly grand, although Mr Al Said clearly cared for his Mercedes saloon, which was washed by a local man every week or two.
“He had a lovely car. It was a beautiful red Mercedes. It got more and more beautiful because it must have been about 30 years old.”
Mr Al Said had always wanted to spend his last years in Oman, a country with historic links to Zanzibar and where his family lived, but had been denied on security grounds. Earlier this month, it emerged he had finally been granted his wish.
At the semi-detached Victorian home on Victoria Grove, the curtains are shut and knocks on the door went unanswered – as they also did at a next-door property believed to have housed some of Mr Al Said’s family members.
“He just slid away,” said Mr Mason, who added he was sad to see him go. “The place needs local characters and I’m sorry that he’s gone.”
Mr Creed believes a blue plaque should be placed outside the former Sultan’s property, to commemorate its links to a person of such importance.
“I had realised recently that I hadn’t seen him for a while. Over the last months that we’ve had the lockdown, I don’t actually know when I last saw him.”
As neighbours go, the former Sultan was ideal, Mr Creed says. “I would have liked the chance to have said good luck and goodbye and ‘I hope it works out for you’.
“He added to our area, he’s missed and we wish him luck.”
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
The years Ramadan fell in May
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Specs
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Gifts exchanged
- King Charles - replica of President Eisenhower Sword
- Queen Camilla - Tiffany & Co vintage 18-carat gold, diamond and ruby flower brooch
- Donald Trump - hand-bound leather book with Declaration of Independence
- Melania Trump - personalised Anya Hindmarch handbag
Results
6.30pm Madjani Stakes Rated Conditions (PA) I Dh160,000 I 1,900m I Winner: Mawahib, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
7.05pm Maiden Dh150,000 I 1,400m I Winner One Season, Antonio Fresu, Satish Seemar
7.40pm: Maiden Dh150,000 I 2,000m I Winner Street Of Dreams, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
8.15pm Dubai Creek Listed I Dh250,000 I 1,600m I Winner Heavy Metal, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
8.50pm The Entisar Listed I Dh250,000 I 2,000m I Winner Etijaah, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson
9.25pm The Garhoud Listed I Dh250,000 I 1,200m I Winner Muarrab, Dane O’Neill, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
10pm Handicap I Dh160,000 I 1,600m I Winner Sea Skimmer, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
Ways to control drones
Countries have been coming up with ways to restrict and monitor the use of non-commercial drones to keep them from trespassing on controlled areas such as airports.
"Drones vary in size and some can be as big as a small city car - so imagine the impact of one hitting an airplane. It's a huge risk, especially when commercial airliners are not designed to make or take sudden evasive manoeuvres like drones can" says Saj Ahmed, chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research.
New measures have now been taken to monitor drone activity, Geo-fencing technology is one.
It's a method designed to prevent drones from drifting into banned areas. The technology uses GPS location signals to stop its machines flying close to airports and other restricted zones.
The European commission has recently announced a blueprint to make drone use in low-level airspace safe, secure and environmentally friendly. This process is called “U-Space” – it covers altitudes of up to 150 metres. It is also noteworthy that that UK Civil Aviation Authority recommends drones to be flown at no higher than 400ft. “U-Space” technology will be governed by a system similar to air traffic control management, which will be automated using tools like geo-fencing.
The UAE has drawn serious measures to ensure users register their devices under strict new laws. Authorities have urged that users must obtain approval in advance before flying the drones, non registered drone use in Dubai will result in a fine of up to twenty thousand dirhams under a new resolution approved by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai.
Mr Ahmad suggest that "Hefty fines running into hundreds of thousands of dollars need to compensate for the cost of airport disruption and flight diversions to lengthy jail spells, confiscation of travel rights and use of drones for a lengthy period" must be enforced in order to reduce airport intrusion.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Vines - In Miracle Land
Two stars
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