http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-496561/Camilla-unveils-bag-lady-look -visit-Turkish-shrine---2-000-children-chatter-Charles-speech.html
Camilla unveils her 'bag lady' look in visit to Turkish shrine ... as 2,000 children chatter through Charles' speech By REBECCA ENGLISH Last updated at 08:51 27 November 2007 The dress was Robinson Valentine couture, the shoes LK Bennett and those plastic bags.....well, darling, they were unmistakably supermarket chic. Fortunately for the Duchess of Cornwall, who was touring a shrine with her husband yesterday, it's not a fashion that is likely to catch on. Camilla's bag lady look came on the first day of the couple's official tour to Turkey, where they will view some of the wonders of the ancient world. Her appearance was one of the lighter moments in a day that veered from the sublime to the ridiculous for the Prince of Wales as he attempted to deliver a key-note speech on the importance of Islam and religious tolerance. Unfortunately for Charles, the vast majority of the 2,000-strong audience filling the auditorium of the local cultural centre were not the scholars he had expected - but school children who couldn't hide their boredom and proceeded to noisily chatter all the way through. The clearly embarrassed Prince gamely ploughed on with his words of wisdom but at times he was almost drowned out by the sound of their talking. For although each of the youngsters had been given a booklet containing a Turkish translation of the speech to read, heavy-weight phrases clearly went over their heads. Charles intoned: "What better place then here near the resting place of Rumi to rededicate ourselves to the purpose of reacquiring an understanding heart and a rebalance of the East and West in ourselves" At one point during the 15-minute lecture his despairing wife could be seen surreptitiously looking at her watch while one leading dignitary behind her sat with his head in his hands. The Prince did, however, receieve an enthusiastic round of applause at the end by the children who, if they weren't remotely impressed by his worthy catchphrases, at least seemed excited by the royal presence. "Prince Charleses, Prince Charleses," they called. A Clarence House aide described the children's reaction as "unfortunate". He said they had expected an audience of university students and scholars instead. "It [the speech] was meant to be delivered to a small group of scholars but local officials decided to move the event to a rather larger auditorium and, unbekown to us, invited several of the local schools along," he said. "It was slightly unfortunate but the Prince's speech has, nevertheless, gone down well with those it was intended for and has been disseminated to universities throughout the country which was what he had always intended." The uncomfortable breach of protocol came during a visit to Konya in southern Turkey to mark the 800th anniversary of the birth of the famed Islamic poet Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi, who is revered through the Muslim world. Rumi's teachings - he advocated the use of music, poetry and dancing as a path for reaching God - led to the creation of the Whirling Dervishes after his death. Bizarrely, modern translations of his work have made him the best-selling poet in the United States. Prince Charles is an avid follower of his writings and it was his idea to visit the 13th Century shrine where the poet's body is buried - something his wife is not likely to thank him for. Arriving for the engagement, Camilla looked elegant in a bottle-green coat with an eye-catching ruffled collar with chocolate brown suede shoes and matching handbag. Gamely, however, she didn't bat an eyelid when she and her husband were asked to don the protective 'galos' - posh galoshes, as one wag remarked - in order to protect the floor of the shrine. Treading carefully so as not to slip on the marble floor, she and the Prince were given a guided tour of the tomb and artefacts before posing for photographers outside. Jokingly shaking her now bag-free feet, Camilla quipped: "Thank goodness they're off." Afterwards the couple watched a performance by modern dervishes carry out the traditional whirling ceremony, known as a sema. It is a symbolic ritual in which those practising it aim to leave their egos and personal desires behind by listening to the music and thinking about God. The couple watched intently as the all-male troop - dressed in conical wool hats known as sikke and wide skirts called tennure - twirled around in front of them to the sound of traditional instruments and chanting. The Prince and his wife have been invited to the secular Islamic republic by its President Abdullah Gul, a trustee of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies which has the Prince as its Patron. He will entertain them tomorrow at a lavish banquet in the capital Ankara. Read more: <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-496561/Camilla-unveils-bag-lady-loo k-visit-Turkish-shrine---2-000-children-chatter-Charles-speech.html#ixzz1Iyf QfGSe> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-496561/Camilla-unveils-bag-lady-look -visit-Turkish-shrine---2-000-children-chatter-Charles-speech.html#ixzz1IyfQ fGSe [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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