PARIS, France – Britain’s Prince Charles appealed for a common effort to preserve the environment on Thursday after visiting Cairo and the Giza pyramids on the first of a two – day trip to Egypt.
After arriving in the Egyptian capital from Jordan, Charles and his wife Camilla were received by President Abdel Fattah al – Sisi heading to Al Azhar, the 1,000 – year – old seat of Sunni Islam learning.
In comments during an evening reception at a restaurant overlooking the pyramids, Charles, 73, said ancient Egyptians understood the sacred geometry of nature and that this knowledge was essential to life and death.
‘Like our rather more modest ancient stone circles in England, the pyramids remind us of a connection to our planet that we have over time forgotten’, he said.
The heir to the British throne said that during meetings with Al Azhar’s Grand Imam and some of its students and teachers he had been reminded of the many Koranic verses that speak of the importance of caring for the planet.
‘We should heed such wisdom and rediscover a sense of the sacred by learning to live within the bound of nature, rather than thinking we can go on ignoring it’, he said.
Britain would be with Egypt, which is due to host next year’s COP27 climate summit, in the ‘epic struggle to protect and restore our environment’, he said.
Charles said he had the ‘special pleasure’ of meeting one of Cairo’s remaining craftsmen with the knowledge to make traditional minibars, or mosque pulpits.
The Middle Eastern trip is the first overseas tour by senior British royal since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
SAS 24 NEWS 