This video highlights a state banquet attended by Queen Camilla and key members of the British royal family, accompanying the Qatari emir in London. Queen Camilla, despite recovering from pneumonia, was present at the banquet and engaged with guests, although she avoided certain parts of the event to preserve her health. The royal biographer, Ian Lloyd, provides insights into the royal family’s commitments and health challenges.

The significance of state banquets in diplomacy is also underscored, emphasizing their role in exercising soft power. These gatherings facilitate meetings between royals and ministers, fostering dialogue on trade and various global concerns. The video highlights the King of the UK’s speech, recognizing Qatar’s contributions to global peace efforts and advances in clean energy and technology, marking the importance of UK-Qatar relations.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. banquet [ˈbæŋkwɪt] - (noun) - A formal large meal or feast, usually involving speeches in honor of a person or event. - Synonyms: (feast, spread, dinner)

So we've been seeing in the last hour these pictures of the state banquet for the Qatari emir in London.

2. pneumonia [njuːˈmoʊniə] - (noun) - A serious lung infection causing breathing difficulties, fever, and coughing. - Synonyms: (lung infection, respiratory infection, illness)

But you will see from these pictures that Queen Camilla is there. Right. So I was going to tell you that she wasn't there tonight because she's been suffering from a form of pneumonia.

3. biographer [baɪˈɒɡrəfər] - (noun) - A writer who composes an account of another person's life. - Synonyms: (life historian, memoirist, chronicler)

Let's speak to Ian Lloyd. He's the royal biographer and former royal photographer.

4. diplomacy [dɪˈploʊməsi] - (noun) - The practice of conducting negotiations and maintaining relations between nations. - Synonyms: (negotiation, international relations, statecraft)

How important are these state banquets in the diplomacy that goes on on a state visit like this?

5. soft power [sɒft ˈpaʊər] - (noun) - The ability to attract and co-opt rather than coerce, using appeal and attraction. - Synonyms: (cultural influence, persuasive power, non-coercive power)

Well, they're very important because it's, it's exercising soft power.

6. mediation [ˌmiːdiˈeɪʃən] - (noun) - The process of intervening to bring about an agreement or reconciliation. - Synonyms: (intervention, arbitration, conciliation)

If I may, I would particularly like to express the United Kingdom's deepest gratitude for your tireless mediation efforts over the past year in pursuit of peace.

7. perseverance [ˌpɜːrsɪˈvɪərəns] - (noun) - The continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition. - Synonyms: (determination, persistence, tenacity)

In these most desperate of circumstances, Ghaza's continued toil, perseverance and diplomatic efforts are quite simply beyond compare.

8. genomics [dʒɪˈnɒmɪks] - (noun) - The branch of molecular biology concerned with the structure, function, evolution, and mapping of genomes. - Synonyms: (genetic sequencing, genome analysis, molecular genetics)

This includes work on genomic genomics, where experts are developing unique models to identify rare disease.

9. agonizing [ˈæɡənaɪzɪŋ] - (adjective) - Extremely painful or difficult to endure. - Synonyms: (excruciating, tormenting, harrowing)

I mean, I remember in the 90s, when I was doing a few things there, some of his speeches were quite agonizing to listen to because he was

10. reassurance [ˌriːəˈʃʊərəns] - (noun) - The action of removing doubts and fears, providing comfort and confidence. - Synonyms: (assurance, support, confirmation)

And that's down to Queen Camilla, because she's given him tremendous reassurance and confidence in a way that the Queen Mum did to him when he was younger.

King Charles welcomes Qatar's Emir for UK visit - BBC News

So we've been seeing in the last hour these pictures of the state banquet for the Qatari emir in London. But you will see from these pictures that Queen Camilla is there. Right. So I was going to tell you that she wasn't there tonight because she's been suffering from a form of pneumonia. She didn't take part, we're told, in the outdoor public ceremonies to greet the emir. But she's. She's there. She has been speaking to guests at the reception, and presumably she is sitting for dinner. So that. That. That's reassuring, isn't it, given some of the reports that we were seeing a little earlier in the day.

Let's speak to Ian Lloyd. He's the royal biographer and former royal photographer. He's photographed Camilla on many occasions. Good to see the Queen out and about, because there was some concern earlier in the day, particularly when people talk of. Of pneumonia and recovering from pneumonia. Yes. Hello, Christian. It's a very odd thing, I think, pneumonia. I've never had it, but apparently you can walk around and not realize you've got it. So she probably thought she had a chest infection. That's what we were told. And it wasn't clearing up. But obviously at some point it's been diagnosed, and certainly she looked okay, but she was obviously being sensible and not going out in the Mall in Horse Guards Parade this morning because the last state visit, the Japanese visitors, were 10 minutes late due to the traffic. So you don't want to be hanging around in the middle of London.

Yeah. And what she did cancel tonight was not the banquet, but actually the lineup, the presentation beforehand, because the guests, and there are about 200 of them, they all shake hands with the king and the Queen and so on. So you're standing there for, you know, 10, 15 minutes, just shaking hands with people and being pleasant and that bit. She sat out somewhere and then she came back for the actual banquet. So. So she's obviously being sensible and taking it easy. I think we should just remark on the line up there because the Princess of Wales is resuming duties and she's there tonight.

The King, of course, being treated for cancer, the Queen, who's had pneumonia. It's been a pretty tough time for the royal family, all told. I thought Catherine wasn't going this evening. I don't know, but she. Yes, it has been. And that's when we heard that Camilla was ill. You've got this succession of illnesses, obviously. There was the death of Prince Philip and then the Queen, and then, of course, the king. The present king being Having cancer and then Kate. So alarm bells go when you have hear of an illness. I'm told she's not there. We're only just seeing these live pictures for the first time. So the lineup is new to me, but I don't think she is there. Princess Anne is there but I don't see the Princess of Wales.

No, she wasn't supposed to be going. But again that's a precautionary thing that she stepped in this morning for that event because Camilla wasn't there and that's what they've been doing all year. So Camilla of course stepped in for the King at the beginning of the year. So she went to Northern Ireland on her own for a two day visit and then distributed the Maundy money before Easter. So they've all been helping each other. And Princess Anne, as you just mentioned and Camilla were the main two during the spring. So we've got this very depleted monarchy at the moment and she's been fantastic in the spring.

How important are these state banquets in the diplomacy that goes on on a state visit like this? Well, they're very important because it's, it's exercising soft power. I mean, everybody wants to, you know, meet the King or the Queen and it's not just them that are present, but their ministers, their Foreign secretaries and so on. And they'll be talking to each other as well as the royals talking to each other. So trade deals are done and so on. So it's a very important thing. But it's, you know, sort of say soft power really.

I think the King's about to speak. Shall we listen then? Buckingham palace this evening on your first state visit to the United Kingdom. In many ways, this evening might be seen as a homecoming. Your Highness is no stranger to these shores, having spent so many of your younger years here at three of our most renowned institutions, Sherburne, Harrow and the Royal Military Academy Centres. Your many visits since then have served as a testament to the close personal ties that bind our nations and our families. This evening I am delighted to mark the renewal of our enduring friendship.

Hayakum marathan uchra fi el mem al muthida baladkom al Thani. Your Highness, our unique shared history stretches back over 160 years. The United Kingdom is proud to be Gutter's oldest friend in the Western world. We have a special bond founded on mutual respect which has stood the test of time. Indeed, Qatar's role in navigating the challenges of recent years has been invaluable from supporting evacuations from Afghanistan to helping keep the world moving in some of the darkest days of the pandemic. Your humanity, vision and leadership matter more than I can possibly say.

Your Highness's visit comes at another moment of great global change. We are living through significant turbulence, the climate emergency and the white heat of a scientific and technological revolution. Just as our parents served and worked so hard to confront the challenges of their ages, so too must we. And at such times of uncertainty and upheaval, old friendships assume even greater importance.

If I may, I would particularly like to express the United Kingdom's deepest gratitude for your tireless mediation efforts over the past year in pursuit of peace in the face of unbearable heartache and suffering. In these most desperate of circumstances, Ghaza's continued toil, perseverance and diplomatic efforts are quite simply beyond compare. These are duties that we all share. As the Quran says, whoever saves a life, it will be as if they saved all of humanity. And as the Bible says, blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.

We stand with you in our commitment to a world where peace and justice prevail over division. So as we work together to address the immediate and urgent issues of the day, I take some comfort in the knowledge that our governments are also collaborating to tackle the most pressing shared threats to humanity of climate change and biodiversity loss. On clean energy, our joint initiatives are paving the way for a much less polluted future, one where economic growth and environmental stewardship go hand in hand.

I am greatly encouraged to know that we are embarking on a partnership that will, over the next 20 years, place our nations jointly at the forefront of clean energy technology development. In the rapidly advancing fields of science and technology, British and gathered researchers and clinicians are working together on cutting edge projects that have the potential to transform our world. This includes work on genomic genomics, where experts are developing unique models to identify rare disease. At an early stage, a technology developed.

The King, paying tribute to the peacekeeping that Qatar has been involved in over the past year. Also making reference to the enormous importance Qatar plays in energy supplies to the UK as well, one of the big gas producers in the Middle east in the Gulf's region. Ian Lloyd, the royal biographer, is with us. It's quite interesting what the sort of topics that the King picks up. Obviously climate change, very important to him and the clean energies and the money that Qatar has to develop Clean energies and they are a big investor here in the UK in that direction. But also the role that Qatar played this past year in trying to bring Hamas and Israel together.

Yes, absolutely. There was a bit of flattery in there, wasn't there? And did you notice he used a few words from the Emir's language? So that's something that he's inherited from the late Queen, who, when she was in Ireland, spoke a few words in Gaelic, you may remember that, back in 2011, and it brought the house down. And that's something that he's learned from the Queen. The late Queen is to, you know, flatter the host and bring out his strengths and so on.

It's what I was saying earlier about soft diplomacy and the other thing with the King is how well he speaks now. I mean, I remember in the 90s, when I was doing a few things there, some of his speeches were quite agonizing to listen to because he was. He wasn't as confident. And that's down to Queen Camilla, because she's given him tremendous reassurance and confidence in a way that the Queen Mum did to him when he was younger. And that makes a difference. He's noticeably stepped into the role of king and does these things brilliantly.

Well, I think. Indeed so. And no doubt reassured by Queen Camilla's presence alongside him there tonight, recovering from that bout of pneumonia. Ian, it's good of you to be with us tonight. Thank you very much for your time.

POLITICS, DIPLOMACY, INSPIRATION, UK-QATAR RELATIONS, ROYAL FAMILY, HEALTH CHALLENGES, BBC NEWS