King of the desert! Prince William visits spectacular dunes on remaining day of Saudi Arabia tour overshadowed by Jeffrey Epstein scandal

Prince William tried to draw a line in the sand on the Jeffrey Epstein scandal today as he visited spectacular dunes in the heart of Saudi Arabia.

The Prince of Wales spoke about ‘exciting’ conservation plans on the final day of his visit to the desert kingdom.

William, a long-term campaigner on wildlife conservation, spent the morning at the Sharaan Nature Reserve in AlUla, a 7,000-year-old archaeological area in Saudi’s Medina region – one of the Kingdom’s ‘crown jewels’ of its cultural transformation plans, led by Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan Al Saud, Minister of Culture and Governor for the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU). 

The region is being developed as a leading cultural and heritage destination, with major investments in arts programming, archaeological research, infrastructure, and community training.

At the private Sharaan reserve, which is not freely open to the public, Willam met rangers and heard about their work protecting and conserving wildlife and the natural world. 

He was driven around by Bassim Al Balawi, Lead Ranger, who was born in AlUla, making three stops focusing on wildlife conservation, land restoration and ecology.

The highlight of the conservation project is to reintroduce the critically endangered Arabian Leopard to the Sharaan by 2035.

His first stop was the Alqaliba Mountain Viewpoint, with its striking view of vast sandscapes and rocks, where he met a group of Saudi rangers who briefed him on the conservation efforts in Sharaan and their commitment to the local community. 

William, wearing navy chinos, a khaki shirt and brown walking boots, said: ‘The local community are used to what they’ve got – unless you show them something different, they don’t know what to do.’

He then asked Prince Badr: ‘Why is Alula so special? Why the tourism and nature reserve?’ 

The prince told him: ‘We have the heritage and the natural topography here so it makes sense for the strategy of Alula.’

Referring to the work of the rangers and the officials leading the wider regeneration project, he said: ‘That they have a vision to do this is really exciting. The tourism will come. 

‘What I find so exciting is it’s so new, this all started in 2019, it’s going to be so exciting to see all the progress. So many others will say, ‘if Saudi Arabia can do it, we can do it’.

He also asked: ‘And what about the Arabian leopard? When was it last here?’ 

The rangers told him the leopard had not been seen in AlUla since the 1980s, and only 38 exist in Saudi Arabia, all living in captivity.

William then had coffee with Prince Badr and some of the rangers. He said: ‘It’s hard work for you guys, I’d have thought, it’s a big area you’ve got to cover. 

‘It must be quite exciting getting the vegetation and wildlife and what impact it will have. The tourists will come too. Well, good luck guys. Lots to do, it’ll keep you busy.’

At his next stop in the reserve, William heard about the land restoration programme from the RCU’s Habitat and Restoration team and planted an acacia tree alongside Prince Badr, the minister of culture.

Finally, William was shown the ‘Dancing Rocks’ formation where he heard more about the ongoing conservation initiatives aimed at protecting and reintroducing native species, most notably the critically endangered Arabian Leopard.

The Sharaan Nature Reserve covers 1,540 square kilometres of desert, mountains and former rangeland. 

It is one of AlUla’s six nature reserves, which cover more than 50 per cent of AlUla County and aims to restore 65,000 hectares of degraded rangeland. 

Sharaan supports the rebalancing of fragile ecosystems, preserving and reintroducing native species such as gazelles, the Arabian oryx, and the acacia woodlands. 

The Zoological Society of London has a partnership with the RCU and supports conservation projects including the rewilding of this critically endangered species.

Later, William will also visit the old town of AlUla, which features more than 900 traditional mud-brick houses, a historic citadel and a network of narrow alleyways that formed a thriving settlement on the ancient incense road, the trade route that carried spices, textiles and aromatics across Arabia for centuries.

The prince will end his visit by touring AlUla’s Oasis and EcoGardening farm, where he will meet local farmers and learn about their belief in sustainable farming and preserving their regions agricultural history.

But William’s trip has been overshadowed by the Epstein sex scandal which brought down Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and continues to make headlines.

William was challenged over the issue yesterday when a UK broadcaster covering the three-day visit shouted the question: ‘Sir, to what extent do you think the royal family has done enough around the Andrew and Epstein issue?’

The Prince and Princess of Wales attempted to make their position clear on the scandal on Monday when they issued their first public statement about it.

A Kensington Palace spokesperson said they were ‘deeply concerned by the continued revelations’, and ‘their thoughts remain focused on the victims’.

The crisis, which has engulfed both the monarchy and Westminster, was reignited when the US authorities recently published millions of documents associated with the paedophile financier Epstein – and it shows little sign of abating.