The Queen is being officially welcomed to Oman as she formally begins the second leg of her Gulf state visit.
The monarch arrived in Muscat, the capital of the Arab country, on Thursday night but will be formally greeted by its ruler Sultan Qaboos this morning.
The royal, who is joined by the Duke of Edinburgh, will travel though the old town of Muscat as she journeys to the Al Alam palace for the ceremony.
Oman has been transformed since the Sultan seized power in a bloodless coup against his father, Said Bin Taimur, in 1970.
Despite his lack of a democratic government, the ruler’s policies have proved popular and he has used the wealth generated by the country’s oil reserves to develop its infrastructure and other services.
He also modernised the government structure with the establishment of a Consultative Assembly in 1981, replaced by the Consultative Council – the majlis al-shura – in 1990 and the Council of State in 1997.
On Friday evening, the Queen and the Duke will attend a state banquet in their honour.
The Queen has spent the past few days on a state visit to the United Arab Emirates.
