Royal Visit

We attended a reception in the Residence gardens the other evening in honour of the visit by HRH The Duke of York, otherwise known as Prince Andrew. The Prince spent a few days in the Kingdom, firstly in Riyadh and then in Eastern Province, I believe to promote UK trade and investment.
He didn't get as far as our group, but he did spend about an hour chatting to some of the hundren and fifty or so guests, made up of Embassy staff, representatives from the British and Saudi business communities, and members of the British military missions, in uniform; the Duke himself wore a suit.
He was particularly interested in the two falcons. Bridget had been presented with the birds by a Saudi (probably a prince I'm not sure). They live in the garden, spending most of their time tethered to perches on the lawn, and hooded, which I'm told calms them. Since Bridget left another woman at the Embassy has taken over their care, which includes taking them for a walk in the mornings (she walking, them sitting on her hand), and feeding them a live quail in the afternoons.