AN hour late and after a particularly bumpy ride, the Prince of Wales landed
in Prague yesterday to be greeted by several beneficiaries of his various trusts,
including a Romany masseuse.
He began his five-day, three-nation Central European tour in a city that has
become a princely cause in its own right. It was after his first visit in 1991 that
the prince, with President Vaclav Havel, set up the Prague Heritage Fund and
a Czech branch of his Business Leaders' Forum.
With the help of several large Czech companies, the forum has established
schemes for small businesses including its Romany Youth Entrepreneurship
Programme. One success story has been that of Magda Hofmmanova, 35,
who could find neither work nor backing until the prince's forum gave her a
loan of £2,000. She now has a flourishing massage business in the town of
Pardubice.
"By tomorrow I may need your help," the prince told her, rubbing his
famously troublesome back. "It would be a great honour for me," replied a
delighted Mrs Hofmmanova.
Earlier Prince Charles received a formal welcome from President Havel at the
gates of Prague Castle, where he was shown how his heritage fund has been
spending the £1 million he has raised over the past decade. One of its major
projects has been the restoration of the castle gardens.
~*~
Jordan's king puts off British visit(Yahoo: Reuters)
LONDON (Reuters) - King Abdullah of Jordan has postponed a planned state visit to
Britain because of the month-long wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence, Britain's Foreign
Office said on Monday.
"King Abdullah is playing a key role in trying to calm the violence and put the peace
process back on track," a Foreign Office official said. "We understand why he feels the
need to remain in the region at this time."
A spokeswoman at Buckingham Palace said King Abdullah and his wife Queen Rania
had been due to stay as guests of Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle from November
7-10.
King Abdullah, son of the late King Hussein and his British second wife, Princess Muna,
has been put in an uncomfortable position by the violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip which has killed at
least 147 people, mostly Palestinians.
Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel six years ago but Abdullah's five million subjects, predominantly of
Palestinian origin, have been enraged by the clashes across the border.
Thousands of Jordanians have demanded the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and angry youths have urged
King Abdullah to open a front along the border with Israel to allow Islamic militants and guerrilla volunteers to
attack the Jewish state.
Abdullah held talks with Foreign Secretary Robin Cook during a brief stopover in London last week on his return
to Jordan from a trip to the United States.