Prince Charles is learning Arabic in order to be able to read the Koran, it has emerged, but he is having a tough time mastering the foreign language.

When Qatar's energy minister inquired if Charles spoke any Arabic at an event yesterday, Charles replied, "I tried to learn it once but I gave up. It goes in one ear and out the other," he answered.

However, a report in the Telegraph citing confidential sources said that Charles had indeed been taking Arabic lessons over the past six months, and he was mortivated in part by a wish to be able to read the Koran in its original form.

This morning, a spokeswoman at Clarence House confirmed to CNN that Prince Charles has taken lessons.

"He definitely has been having Arabic lessons," the spokeswoman said, adding, "He definitely speaks Welsh as I've heard him myself. French is a definite, and he is very good at that."

The Prince of Wales is on a tour of the Middle East with Camilla.

On Wednesday, they visited a camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan.

They have just arrived in Saudi Arabia, where there seems scant chance Charles will raise the issue of the recent beheading of seven armed robbers.