Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall stroll around ruins in Jordan’s ancient city of Gadara

After a busy first day of their official mini tour of the Middle East – including a lavish dinner at Al Husseiniya Palace in Amman yesterday evening, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall arrived in Umm Qais, the site of the ancient city of Gadara, on Wednesday morning.   

The second day of their visit, delayed by almost two years due to the Covid pandemic, saw the couple make a 75-mile hop north of the Jordanian capital to the town of Umm Qais. 

The Prince, who turned 73 on Sunday, and Camilla, 74, were accompanied on the early morning walking tour by Jordanian Princess Dana Firas, 51, a global advocate for the ancient site’s ongoing preservation, and a significant additional entourage. 

As the group wandered the main dusty avenue through the archaeological ruins, Charles and Camilla learned about the site’s rich tapestry of history including Hellenic, Roman, Byzantine and Early Muslim influences.

Keeping cool in the desert sun, the Prince of Wales opted for a light, camel-hued suit with a striped tie and white checked shirt and a comfy-looking pair of beige shoes, while Camilla wore a sage-coloured floral dress – with low-heeled court shoes in caramel.

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During the walkabout, Charles stopped to plant a tree to symbolise the UK-Jordanian partnership and in celebration of the centenary anniversary for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. 

The ancient site, now known as Umm Qais, appears in the bible as Gadara, south-east of the Sea of Galilee and remains one of Jordan’s biggest tourist attractions. 

The couple showed off their fitness too, appearing to negotiate the steep stone steps at the site’s amphitheatre with apparent ease, with Camilla leading the way.   

The British royals have received a warm welcome so far in the Middle Eastern country, which is seen as a strong ally for the Government; the couple will head to Egypt later in the week.

The start of the trip saw Charles and Camilla rattle through a packed schedule on their first official day in Jordan including visiting the spectacular Al Husseiniya Palace in Amman, where they were hosted by King Abdullah II and Queen Rania.

On Tuesday afternoon, they flew by helicopter to one of the most important religious sites in Jordan and were given the great honour of walking down to the riverbed where it is believed Jesus Christ was baptised. 

And last night, Charles and Camilla were back at Al Husseiniya Palace, this time in their finery, to attend a private  banquet hosted by the Jordanian king and queen.

The couple’s Tuesday afternoon helicopter visit to the UNESCO world heritage site, situated in the Jordan Valley, north of the Dead Sea and on the border with Israel, saw them spending time at a site that welcomes pilgrims from across the world and has been authenticated by all major Christian Church leaders as one of the three holiest sites of Christianity, along with Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

During their visit, the prince and his wife walked gingerly down some well-worn steps and a steep, pebbly path to the water, where they stood for a few moments in quiet reflection. 

Then they bent down and each dipped their fingers in, Charles first followed by Camilla, before walking carefully back up the path to sign a visitor’s book.

It’s thought that the heir-to-the-throne took ‘five or six dozen bottles’ of Holy water taken from the River Jordan back to the UK for royal baptisms – which could include that of Lilibet, the grand-daughter he has never met. 

On their arrival earlier, the couple also stopped at nearby Elijah’s Hill, where John the Baptist is said to have lived for about 20 years in a cave, and where Jesus is believed to have visited him. From the ruins, the couple could see Jericho and Jerusalem stretching out into the distance.

Elijah’s Hill is believed to be where Elijah ascended to heaven in the 9th century BC, with views of the wilderness stretching out across to the River Jordan.

The Bible states that Elijah would return before the coming of Jesus, so when John the Baptist began baptising people there it caused a huge stir in the surrounding villages.

They were met by HRH Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, the King’s Senior Adviser for Religious and Cultural Affairs, who has taken a great interest in the project, and The Director General of the Baptism Site, Rustom Mkhjian.

The Jordanian people have taken great pride in the careful excavation of the area, leaving much of the site as it would have been in the time of Christ.

The royal visitors were given a guided tour of the area and were even offered the opportunity to sit in John the Baptist’s cave for a few moments quietly together.

The prince seemed particularly moved to be visiting a site, where so many famed prophets and pilgrims are said to have passed through.

Pre-Covid-19, it welcomed more than 200,000 visitors per year and the expectation is that this number will again be reached over the next one-two years.

They were then taken down to the Baptism site by golf buggy, before travelling back up on the same electric vehicles and flying back to the capital Amman for a glamorous royal dinner.

Speaking afterwards Mr Mkhjian said of the visit: ‘It was great. Their Royal Highness were asking so many questions. 

‘We have discovered so much more than when the prince last visited and he was ever so pleased to see how we have preserved this. My last words to him were ‘Your Royal Highness, welcome to the lowest site discovered on earth that is closest to heaven’.

‘I was so excited to be able to show him the importance of the site but also explain that we have preserved it the way Jesus and John did.

‘One of the last visitors to be allowed down to the Baptism site was his Holiness Pope Francis. It is a great honour.

‘The significance to them touching is that they are actually touching a water table described by pilgrims in the 6th Century, worn down by hundreds of thousands of feet over the centuries.’

After their moment at the Baptism site, the prince took part in an interfaith meeting about religious tolerance and the environment.

He told them: ‘You are the people, who are the leaders of your communities, you are the people to remind your flocks of living in harmony with nature. There is hope. There are ways wed can change.

‘I pray with all my heart that the Churches and Faiths will lead the way with those in private enterprise and the public sectors

‘Now is the time to translate people’s awareness into real action on the ground.’

He told them that the different Faiths needed to do for the environment what they had done for interfaith relations.

In return the religious gathered asked him to convey their prayers to the Queen.