Poor old queen

[Queen Elizabeth receives Asma and Bashar at Buckingham Palace in December 2002 © Kirsty Wigglesworth/Pool/AFP/Getty Images]

One feels quite sorry for the royals at times, having to put on a good show for all kinds of visiting undesirables, undesirables who happen, for one reason or another, to be the flavour of the month. In this case the President of Syria and his lady: another kleptocrat, one whose term of office is roughly the same as that of President Putin. With the latter being an important backer of the former.

I had forgotten that the lady was born and raised in London, where her parents are still living. A lady who started out in computer science, then moved onto investment banking before becoming first lady. Where she specialises in good causes, especially her own. Her position being complicated by her being a Sunni Moslem at the heart of an Alawite regime. 

Which reminds me that Syria used to be known as a beacon of religious tolerance in a generally intolerant Muslim world. But see references 2 and 3 for the full story.

References

Reference 1: Syria’s state capture: the rising influence of Mrs Assad:The first lady now has a leading role in a regime that is plundering the wealth of its people - Raya Jalabi, Financial Times - 2023.

Reference 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asma_al-Assad.

Reference 3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alawites.

Reference 4: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/photos/kirsty-wigglesworth. A photographer who does not appear to run to her own arty website. She appears to specialise in royal and political celebrities.