Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, are continuing their nine-day visit to Middle East, reaching Saudi Arabia on Friday 15 March.

The royal pair's visit to the country comes shortly after Saudi Arabia executed seven young men, despite appeals from the UN. Human rights activists protested against the executions and said that the men, who were convicted of robbery and theft, were killed by firing squad. According to the country's official news agency, they were beheaded, reports CBS News.

"The charges against all seven persons were allegedly fabricated and all seven were convicted following unfair trials," UN experts said in a statement earlier this week.

Despite calls from activists for the royal couple to question Saudi Arabia's record on human rights during their trip, a statement by Clarence House ruled out any such move.

"Military collaboration, opportunities for women in society, inter-faith dialogue, education and environmental sustainability," were mentioned as areas of conversation that might be covered in the statement.

As Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall continue their tour, reports have emerged that the Prince is learning Arabic in order to be able to read the Koran. However, the prince has quickly realised that learning the language is no cakewalk.

"I tried to learn it once but I gave up. It goes in one ear and out the other," Charles told Qatar's energy minister.

However, quoting anonymous sources, the Telegraph reported that Charles had been taking classes in the language for the past six months. His motivation, according to the report, was to be able to read the Koran, Islam's holy book.

The reports were confirmed by a spokeswoman at Clarence House, who told CNN: "He definitely has been having Arabic lessons. He definitely speaks Welsh as I've heard him myself. French is a definite, and he is very good at that."

The royal couple's Middle East visit started in Jordan, where they toured ancient ruins and met religious leaders.

They also visited the King Abdullah refugee camp near Jordan's northern border with Syria, which houses 1,200 people. Here, they spoke with Syrian refugees.

"The great thing to have come out of this is just how unbelievably generous the Jordanian people have been - they have been truly remarkable," Charles said. "But it's putting more and more strain on food and hospitals so clearly the Jordanians need more assistance and help to be able to cope with this immense challenge."

"I found it just a humbling experience seeing all those children, some of them without parents, who have lost their parents and who have obviously been adopted by others - I found it quite heartbreaking," Camilla told reporters.