The Untold Truth Of The Saudi Royal Family

The Saudi royal family is known for leading quite the lavish lifestyle while ruling over one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Still, while the House of Saud has a rich history that is definitely worth a deep dive into, the royal family's modern counterparts are just as if not more intriguing to explore, not only for their personal lives but for their controversies as well. While the kingdom is currently under the rule of King Salman, those with an interest in Saudi royals know that the king's son and heir apparent Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is essentially Saudi Arabia's ruler in all but his title. Known for having a taste for the finer things in life, MBS has come under heavy criticism for some of his actions.

Then, of course, there are the issues with Saudi Arabia's strict laws, which many critics state still haven't improved despite Saudi royals having removed some of their restrictions. To date, the kingdom still faces plenty of backlash for its cruel forms of punishment. Additionally, it isn't just Saudi laws that have faced dispute; some of the Saudi royal family have been accused of assaulting their staff, while others are alleged to have imprisoned their own relatives. With plenty of controversy surrounding the Saudi royal family as well as their leadership, many people are curious to find out the truth about the House of Saud.

Since its modern-day founder King Abdulaziz, the passage of leadership over the monarchy has continued to the founder's male descendants. The House of Saud reports that after the first king's passing, the title was given to his successor, King Saud. Afterwhich, the power then went to the third son of Ibn Saud, King Faisal. The next ruler was King Khalid, followed by the eighth son of Ibn Saud, who became King Fahd. Finally, after Fahd died in 2005, King Abdullah (brother of King Fahd) took over and ruled for ten years before his death. Currently, Saudi Arabia's ruler is King Salman.

Similarly, in 2021, 9News reported that the ruling royal family had an estimated 15,000 members, out of which 4,000 were said to be princes serving in various government roles. Concerning the family's vast number of royals, the Independent wrote in 2012 that Princess Basma Bint Saud Bin Abdul Aziz (granddaughter of the founding king) claimed that in addition to having 15,000 members of the royal family, only about 2,000 of them actually enjoyed royal privileges. "You have 2,000 who are multi-millionaires, who have all the power, all the wealth and no-one can even utter a word against it because they are afraid to lose what they have," the princess claimed.

With no shortage of wealth, it comes as no surprise that the Saudi royal family is known for living lavishly. Still, some of their pricer purchases have left some stunned. For example, in 2017, the Wall Street Journal revealed that the aforementioned Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (also known by his initials MBS) purchased Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" for $450.3 million. Similarly, the New York Post reported that MBS owns an ultra-fancy 440-foot yacht that cost him a startling $494 million. The craft allegedly has two pools and a helipad, and was said to be an impulse purchase.

The outlet added that in addition to the luxurious purchases of MBS, the royal family's extravagant lifestyle allegedly includes spending serious cash on gold-studded superyachts, private jets, palaces, and furniture made out of gold. Even down to the small everyday essentials, it's rumored that the Saudi royal family keeps things posh with gold-plated tissue dispensers.

With plenty of seemingly unnecessary extravagance, it's no shock that the Saudi royal family has faced heavy backlash for appearing wasteful with their wealth. However, it's also worth noting that certain members, such as the crown prince, aren't exactly feeling remorseful for their spending. "I'm a rich person and not a poor person. I'm not Gandhi or Mandela. I'm a member of the ruling family that existed for hundreds of years before the founding of Saudi Arabia," MBS stated during his interview with 60 Minutes.

In 2014, The New York Post reported the disturbing and tragic story of Saudi princesses Sahar, Maha, Hala, and Jawaher Al Saud, the daughters of the late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. Initially, the women started out leading lavish lives complete with unlimited shopping sprees, luxurious vacations in Europe, and high-end accessories like jewel-encrusted tiaras. However, according to the eldest daughter Sahar via phone interview, they are now prisoners in their home, forbidden to marry, and confined against their will.

Sahar alleged that they are being held captive because of their public views on Saudi Arabia's oppressive treatment of women. She claimed that after the sisters spoke openly about their feelings about women being illegally held and placed in mental wards, their father decided he'd had enough and punished them. Similarly, their mother told the outlet that her ex-husband was physically abusive and later divorced her without her knowledge.

She claimed that her treatment during their marriage led her to flee to London, and only a year after she left, King Abdullah began to abuse their daughters. "They had felt some oppression before I left, but when he found that I had gone, he vowed that he would kill the girls, slowly." Additionally, in an interview with a British news channel, Princess Sahar noted that because of speaking out, the sisters would likely lose access to the internet, which they say was their only connection to the outside world.

Known for having some pretty strict laws, Aljazeera states that as an absolute monarchy, Saudi Arabia has enforced harsh limitations that don't exist elsewhere for Muslim women. While some of these rules were amended in August 2019, previous laws allowed a woman who lived in Saudi Arabia to essentially be given the same treatment as a child. They were unable to receive an education, travel, work, marry, or get access to legal documents without the expressed consent of a male guardian. If that wasn't bad enough, a divorced or widowed woman could legally be under the control of her own son if he was within the appropriate age.

One of the first changes began on June 18th, 2018, when a ban that had prohibited women from legally being allowed to drive was finally lifted (a move that received worldwide praise from human rights workers). However, it's worth stating that while this is a positive change, many of the women who initially fought against the ban and other discrimination have been arrested and jailed. Similarly, in relation to other law reversals, PBS's Frontline stated that in recent years, the Saudi royals have also introduced other favorable modifications like allowing public movie theaters (which had previously had a three-decade-long ban) as well as concerts. Still, while these moves are obviously improvements over their previous status, the additional intolerance towards those who fought for change in the first place hasn't gone without notice. 

Previously noted for his lavish spending and his quick rise to power, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has quickly become a well-known figure to the world outside of Saudi Arabia. As noted by The Times Of Israel, though his father, King Salman, is still considered the official ruler, many of the king's duties appear to have been taken over by MBS, leading some to question who's really in charge. In recent years, MBS has been greeting foreign leaders and heading regional summits. More recently, in early December of 2021, MBS met with French President Emmanuel Macron and led the Gulf Cooperation Council summit that same month. As for King Salman, he rarely makes public appearances anymore.

Yasmine Farouk of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace says that what's happening is quite telling, considering that King Salman is known to be dealing with health concerns. "The idea that a crown prince is the de facto ruler of the country, meeting with foreign presidents and presiding over summits, only happened before when Saudi kings were not in good health." Similarly, The Atlantic reported that with King Salman's continued absence, his son's succession is more or less a guarantee, regardless of who wants him to ascend. One senior Saudi diplomat said, "Ask any Saudi, anyone at all, whether MBS will be king," adding, "If there are people in Washington who think he will not be, then I cannot help them. I am not a psychiatrist."

With their strict enforcement of rules, it's no surprise that the Saudi royal family has no qualms about harshly reprimanding its family members. As reported by The Guardian, MBS shocked the world in 2017 when he had the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton turned into a holding cell and detained many senior figures, some of whom were royal family members. While the outlet states that King Salman issued the arrests, it was MBS who had the order carried out. Similarly, in 2020, The New York Times stated that MBS had detained three royal family members: King Salman's younger brother Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, the former crown prince Mohammed bin Nayef, and his brother Prince Nawaf bin Nayef. The write-up added that the former two were allegedly considered possible complications to the future reign of MBS.

Additionally, in early January, the BBC reported that Princess Basmah bint Saud and her daughter had finally been released from a high-security prison. The two had been held for almost three years without any charges ever being brought against either. At the time of her arrest, the princess had planned to travel abroad to get medical treatment for an undisclosed illness. While there's no concrete proof, it's suspected that the princess' imprisonment could have been related to her humanitarian work or her connection to the aforementioned former crown prince. Likewise, The Guardian declared that the princess has been critical of the actions of her cousin, MBS.