Jocelyn Henderson recently celebrated her 100th birthday at her home in Abu Dhabi’s Royal Stables She arrived in the Gulf as the wife of British diplomat and scholar of the Arab world Edward Henderson ABU DHABI: Tucked away in a quiet, verdant corner of Abu Dhabi’s Royal Stables sits an unassuming little house with a white porch. It is quiet around here, the thick foliage and occasional whinny helping to drown out the sounds of the UAE capital, sprawling in every direction beyond the parameters of this tiny inner-city oasis. The British couple who moved here chose it for that very reason: its peace and tranquility. That, and the fact it was gifted to them by the emirate’s founder, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan. ad Fast forward four decades and only one-half of the couple survives. Jocelyn Henderson, widow of British diplomat and renowned scholar of the Arab world Edward Henderson, still lives in the little house under the special protection of Abu Dhabi’s royal family. Last week, she celebrated her 100th birthday. Pictures of her throughout her “birthday week” show her surrounded by balloons, flowers and old friends. In one, a beaming Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al-Nahyan, one of the UAE’s highest-ranking royals, wraps his arm around her. He had close ties to Edward. Jocelyn is the grande dame of the oldest generation of surviving Gulf expats, a dwindling group of foreigners who arrived when the land was still known as the Trucial States. Jocelyn is the grande dame of the oldest generation of surviving Gulf expats, a dwindling group of foreigners who arrived when the land was still known as the Trucial States. (Supplied) ad Jocelyn’s husband had a big hand in that. Edward spent most of his career working in the Arabian Gulf, maintaining Britain’s relations with the land that eventually became the UAE, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain. He played a key role in defusing the Buraimi border dispute involving Abu Dhabi, Oman and Saudi Arabia between 1952 and 1955. He was also a good friend of the famous British explorer Wilfred Thesiger. When Edward died in 1995, the Independent described him as “steely-nerved and a subtle negotiator” and “one of the most prominent personalities” in the Arabian Gulf. “He harmonized the aims of Britain with those of the Gulf with regard to oil exploration and the establishment of the oil industry in the lower Gulf,” his obituary said. In the 26 years since Edward’s death, Jocelyn has remained a stalwart of the Abu Dhabi community, actively involved in many of the initiatives she helped establish four decades ago. Only recently has the encroachment of old age slowed her down. Jocelyn Henderson, widow of British diplomat and renowned scholar of the Arab world Edward Henderson, still lives in her little house under the special protection of Abu Dhabi’s royal family. (Supplied) When I arrived at the little house on a sunny Friday afternoon, several weeks before her birthday, I found her spritely and alert, her two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels bounding around her. A badge of the seven founding members of the UAE in front of a national flag was pinned to her chest. “Sheikh Zayed gave that to me,” she said. “He told me: ‘You must always wear it.’” The couple knew the country’s founding royals well. Edward served in World War II as a member of the Arab Legion, before he was seconded to the British foreign service in 1956. He was fully enlisted into the foreign service in 1959 when he was appointed political officer in Abu Dhabi. Subsequent posts took him to Jerusalem and Bahrain, and he later became Britain’s first ambassador to Qatar when the country gained independence in 1971. Jocelyn had a distinguished career herself prior to their marriage, serving as private secretary to actress Sarah Churchill, daughter of Winston Churchill, and separately as secretary to Oscar-winning filmmaking duo Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. But she followed her husband without question, assuming her position as entertainer of house parties and dignitaries. She described her role as that of a “silent partner.”