Queen Elizabeth II visits Oman

Thousands of people lined the streets of the Omani capital Muscat today (November 26th) to welcome Queen Elizabeth II who is on an official state visit to the nation.

Union Jack-waving crowds lined the streets of the capital as the Queen's entourage took the British monarch and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke of York to meet the nation's ruler.

The five-day visit coincides with the Sultan of Oman Qaboos' Al-Alam's 40th anniversary on the throne and comes after the Queen's two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates.

During the visit, the Queen impressed her host with her knowledge of art when she led the Sultan on a viewing of priceless British landscape paintings from the Royal Collection.

Some of the world's most famous pictures in the collection spanning the last 250 years, including work by Gainsborough, Constable, Turner, Millais and Singer Sargent, are on loan to the Omani palace by the Tate.