The House That Money Built

Princes and Princesses of the Royal House of Saud have long had a reputation for violence towards us 'mere mortals', as well as hypocrisy over their 'religiousness'. For the record there are about *22,000 royals in Saudi Arabia, with about 7,000 classed as 'Princes' — making the ratio of about 1 royal per 1,000 non-royals, and with total control over the media, this means what happens abroad stays abroad. 

 

House Of Saud

But as they don't yet control the western press, we can still follow their global indiscretions with some glee:

A Saudi Prince, Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud, is currently on trial at a court in Oxford for the murder and homosexual sexual molestation of his servant Bandar Abdulaziz, in the Landmark Hotel, central London, on 15 February.

Of course Homosexuality is 'Haram' in Islam, so the fact that he's been accused of doing this is probably considered far worse than merely murdering a servant, which as I will illustrate below is hardly that unusual for members of the House of Saud, or indeed for the other 'Princes' and 'Princesses' of that region.

Of course they are only two or three generations away from being the desert scavengers and brigands that Lawrence of Arabia incited to fight the Turks in the First World War, but even so you might expect that unlimited amounts of money might have civilised them.

But no, they continue to act like their ancestors ..... with a litany of crimes around the world, and here's just the 'Princesses' to start with:

• In 1995, a Saudi princess, Princess Maha al-Sudairi, wife of the heir to the throne, was accused of beating a servant in Orange County whom she suspected of stealing $200,000 from her.
• Princess Buniah al-Saud, a 41-year-old niece of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd, was charged with beating a maid in Florida in December 2001.

Notice that princess Maha al-Sudairi on the right doesn't
cover her face outside of Saudi Arabia.

• In February 2001, another Saudi royal, Princess Hind al-Fassi, was found guilty in absentia by an Egyptian court of not paying for more than $1m worth of jewellery from a Cairo jewellery shop.





Again, none of that face covering nonsense ....



• US congressional reports suggested that two of the hijackers involved in the 11 September attacks on the United States received $3,500 a month from two students in the United States via an account in the name of Princess Haifa al-Faisal, the Saudi ambassador's wife..... denied by Nail al-Jubeir, an aide to Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Abdullah who said "the money did not come directly from the princess" ..... hmm, hardly ringing eh, just 'not directly' from her account?
• Maha al-Sudairi, the wife of the Saudi interior minister was forced to pay more than $120,000 (85,700 euros; £72,800) to one store, according to its lawyer. It came after a court order was issued allowing the seizure of her belongings, following her refusal to pay the clothing chain, Key Largo for goods she had taken away. The shop's lawyer, Jacky Benazerah, said repeated demands for payment had been ignored and described the settlement as a relief.
• A Saudi Arabian princess who had an illegitimate child with a British man has been granted asylum in the UK because she would be stoned to death if she went home. She met her English boyfriend - who is not a Muslim - during a visit to London. British diplomats believe that to openly acknowledge the secret asylum case would in effect be to highlight the persecution of women in Saudi Arabia.

And some of the Princes are just as bad ....

• In 2002 Prince Nayef Bin Sultan Bin Fawwaz Al-Shaalan, was wanted by US drug enforcement agents on charges of smuggling cocaine from Venezuela to France.
• A  United States judge ordered the Saudi Arabian royal family to pay $216m to the estranged wife of a dead man related to them by marriage. They had just ignored the courts earlier decisions.
• Prince Sultan bin Turki bin Abdel-Aziz has accused his government of kidnapping him in Switzerland after he spoke out in favour of reform in Saudi Arabia.
• Arab prince, Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan - cleared of torturing and beating a businessman with assistance from his employees by a Saudi 'Court', this despite the whole episode being filmed and released onto the Internet.

As I have mentioned already, money doesn't buy class, and in the Saudis case, not even much honesty it seems.

Update:

Since I wrote this post, Princess Maha al-Sudairi has been a very naughty girl, again, and again and well, again ..... In June 2009, she claimed diplomatic immunity in France after amassing £15 million in unpaid shopping bills, including £60,000 on designer lingerie alone. In 2010 she was once again bailed out by her oil-rich government after she ordered £18,000 worth of glassware and silverware from a Paris store. In 2012, Paris’s Key Largo leisure wear store, said the princess and her relatives had more than £100,000 worth of their stock which hadn't been paid for (although some reports suggested that she had settled with the store after bailiffs turned up at her hotel).

French newspapers report up to 30 of Paris’s most exclusive retailers have fallen foul of her bouncing credit notes in the last few years. Her latest wheeze is that she and her 60 strong retinue tried to dodge paying a hotel bill of £5million, by doing a moonlight flit in a fleet of limousines from the exclusive Shangri-La hotel in Paris. Naturally she was caught, but once again claimed diplomatic immunity to avoid the consequences.

The truth is that she is an inveterate fraudster, and the European and US authorities should ban her and her retinue from entering our borders, as being an undesirable alien. She is a criminal, not a 'diplomat' and the Saudis should have it made very clear to them that this litany of crime is not acceptable, and that her diplomatic credentials will no longer be accepted.

The Emir of Qatar has put her and her vast retinue of servants up in the equally exclusive Royal Monceau hotel, while this latest 'misunderstanding' is settled. You do have to wonder though why, with this record of fraud, she is still granted goods and services without payment in France ... greedy retailers has to be a factor.

Oh and in case you were wondering, the gay Saudi Prince, Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud (from the top of the story), was jailed for life (with a minimum term of 20 years) at the Old Bailey for the beating, biting, strangulation and murder of his African boyfriend / servant. They had been drinking champagne and 'sex on the beach' cocktails.

Even more disgustingly, he will be eligible to seek asylum in the UK upon release, because homosexuality is punishable by death in his home country .... they are beyond help as a religion and civilisation.

A Few More:

• In Dec 2013 Princess Meshael Alayban was arrested and faced 12 years in prison on human-trafficking charges, before posting bail fit for a princess of $5 million. She is one of the six wives of Saudi Prince Abdulrahman bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz al Saud, a grandson of King Abdullah. She lives in Saudi Arabia but keeps a vacation home in Irvine Florida. Outcome not known.
• In September 2012 Princess Sara bint Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, also known as the 'Barbie' princess because of her privileged upbringing, said she faced persecution by some family members. and some of Saudi Arabia's authorities, and applied for political asylum in the UK. Outcome not known. 

Princess Sara bint Talal bin Abdulaziz

• In March 2012 it was reported that Princess Salwa Bint Nassir Bin Abdulrahman Al Thnayan, Princes Fahad Bin Khaled Al-Saud, Faysal Bin Khaled Al-Saud and Mohammed Bin Khaled Bin Faisal Al- Saud, and Princess Sara Bint Khaled Al-Saud were all trying to sue hotel group Wyndham Worldwide Corp for jewellery and cash worth a total of 10.2 million pounds ($16 million) that they alleged was stolen during a 2010 visit to London. They used a room safe to store this (rather than the hotel safety deposit boxes), and they didn't bother to take out any insurance because she 'relied on the hotel’s five-star status to ensure safety' .... the party had the hotel issue 144 new or duplicate keys during their stay because they lost so many keys (and so much for security) .... outcome not known. 
• On Mar 14th 2014 The Economist reported allegations that King Abdullah himself was involved in the misbehaviour. According to the televised testimony of princess Anoud al Fayez, one of the 89-year-old-monarch’s 20-odd ex-wives, the couple’s four daughters (now in their 30s and 40s), have spent the past 13 years locked under virtual house arrest in the royal palace compound in Jeddah.
• Saudi newspapers in December 2013 announced that another unnamed prince would be executed, following the rejection of an offer of blood money from the family of a man he had killed.
•  Other strange affairs include the mysterious death of one royal prince in Miami in 1959 (following a rumoured sex-change operation), and the assassination of King Faisal in 1975 by his own nephew.

Another Two or Three:

• Prince Turki II bin Abdulaziz Al Saud experienced controversy surrounding the death of his wife Hind al Fassi in August 2010. Her brother Allal al Fassi accused his brother-in-law, Prince Turki as well as his nephew and niece of killing his sister with a drug overdose. He submitted a report to the general attorney and then, disappeared for 24 hours and reappeared after the medical report proved that there was nothing wrong in her system, leading to the withdrawal of all his accusations to his brother in law.
•  Prince Turki's son, Abdul Rahman, sued his uncle Allal al Fassi claiming that he beat him and his father in the hospital where his mother died.
• Sheik Walid Juffali, a 60 year old Saudi billionaire worth around £4 billion, is reported to have divorced his wife, ex-model Christina Estrada, who is aged 53, in Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately he forgot to mention it to her, and although he claims that he is paying £70,700 pcm 'maintenance' and expenses for their daughters upbringing, it isnt deemed enough. However she wasn't a happy bunny and filed for more money in the London High court. She claimed that she can get no justice in Saudi Arabia ... he has claimed 'Diplomatic immunity' against her claim .... the case was settled in 2016 with a £75 million award to his ex-wife. He died a month later.    

... And More:

• In October 2015, Saudi prince Abdel Mohsen Bin Walid Bin Abdulaziz and four associates were caught at the Beirut airport attempting to carry “two tons of Captagon pills” into Saudi Arabia, as well as a quantity of cocaine. Captagon is the brand name for fenethylline, a combination of the stimulants amphetamine and theophylline. Sources in the Middle East say Captagon is fuelling fighters on both sides of Syria’s bloody civil war.
• Monsour Alshammari (who is related to Saudi royalty), was apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border attempting to flee the country to escape prosecution on rape charges in Utah after posting $100,000 bail. For reasons I don't understand, he only got a one year jail sentence when convicted. He was also ordered to pay $6,000 to the victim. It wasn't even clear that he would be deported. Very strange.
• Prince Majed bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, a son of the late King Abdullah faced claims and lawsuits following a series of parties he held in a rented Beverly Hills Mansion between September 21 and September 22 in 2015. Its claimed that cocaine was used, alcohol was consumed and female escorts were brought in for the prince. Three women employees claim to have seen the royal having his penis 'stroked' by a male aide and that they were forced to stay in the room until it finished. Prince Majed was arrested and accused of forced oral copulation of an adult after neighbors spotted crying and bleeding woman but felony charges against Al Saud (left) were dropped by the Los Angeles District Attorney. However prosecutors can now bring misdemeanour charges against him, and lawsuits by 3 women were started ... he was allowed to leave LAPD custody after posting a $300,000 bond. Its believed he then left the USA. He apparently summed up the whole families view of the world, when he shouted at an American woman employee ...'You're not a woman, you are a nobody! I'm a prince and I will do what I want and nobody will do anything to me!'

Latest Naughty Girl:

• September 26th - Paris France. An interior decorator calls by appointment to a posh apartment in Avenue Foch near the Arc De Triomphe. He is expecting to be asked to do some remodelling work and so after being let in he starts taking photographs for the work. However after he taken some shots the apartment owner Princess Hassa - the daughter of King Salman of Saudi Arabia - arrives, and takes offence at his taking photographs. She apparently suspected the 52 year old man wanted to sell them to the media. 

The decorator claims that she then ordered her bodyguard to kill him, saying that "You have to kill this dog, he doesn't deserve to live". Perhaps wisely, given subsequent events the bodyguard chooses not to kill the decorator, but instead beats him up, binds his feet and hands, and then forced him to kiss her feet as an apology. He is only released after 4 hours, and told never to return ... he goes to the police who try to arrest the 'princess'. 

 She invokes 'diplomatic immunity' and flees back to Saudi Arabia, leaving behind her aide/bodyguard, who being afforded no such protection is arrested, and put under investigation for firearm offences and kidnapping.  Ninety years ago she would have been trekking from waterhole to waterhole carrying a tent .... they haven't changed much at all.   

October 2016:

• SAUDI prince Turki bin Saud al-Kabir has been executed after he was found guilty of shooting dead a man he had just been involved in a punch-up with. Apparently, after the fist fight he and his followers had gone and got guns, and he blasted Adel al-Mohaimeed to death in the subsequent firefight back in 2012. It is one of the few times a ruling family member has been executed in Saudi Arabia, after it was believed that the family of the dead man refused the offer of blood money compensation to spare the princes life and drop the charges.
• It was a busy month in Arabia, as yet another Saudi Prince was been in trouble with the law. He was allegedly flogged over an undisclosed crime,according to the daily newspaper Okaz. It reported that the prince was flogged in a prison in the Red Sea city of Jeddah on Monday the 31st of October. It did not elaborate on the crime, nor did it name the royal from the kingdom’s Al Saud family. As expected, Saudi state media did not report anything on the alleged flogging.
• 2017: In the last two years, its been reported by the BBC that three Saudi princes living in Europe, all critical of the Saudi government have disappeared. Its believed that all were abducted and flown back to Saudi Arabia … where nothing further has been heard from them.
• 2017: Lots of Princes arrested in anti-corruption crackdown .... most were released after paying 'fines' aka ransom money to the government.
• 2017: The Dhaka Tribune reported that Saudi Princess Amira Bint Aidan Bin Nayef (the very pretty one on this link), gave an interview to French newspaper Le Monde. In it she stated that slavery is still being practised in the Kingdom by members of the Royal Family. That the practice of buying and renting the children, especially the orphans, from countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Djibouti, Somalia, Nigeria, Romania and Bulgaria for sex slaves was permitted. The city of Jeddah held a slave market with the children becoming the property of those who buy them and are not allowed to leave without permission .... Trafficking of white women and exploiting them for sexual practices is also relatively common.

January - March 2018

• Saudi authorities have arrested 11 princes for holding a protest at a royal palace in the capital Riyadh. They were apparently angered by the government's decision to stop paying the water and energy bills of royals. They also demanded compensation after one of their cousins was handed the death sentence for an unspecified crime. As usual those involved have not been named.
• Princess, Hassa bint Salman, is the daughter of King Salman, the Saudi monarch, and the half sister of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ~ A French judge ordered her arrest in December 2017 (but it was only disclosed to the press in March 2018), related to allegations that she ordered her bodyguard to hit a plumber working in her Paris apartment. The incident detailed in the warrant occurred almost 18 months ago in Princess Hassa’s Paris apartment. The plumber said he had taken a photograph or photographs with his cellphone so he could place the furniture back where it had been before he began his work.

More Here:

Naughty Saudi Royals

And Another One: 

 

Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, the 62-year-old leader of Ras al-Khaimah, one of the seven emirates comprising the United Arab Emirates, was arrested for the sexual assault of a housekeeper at a Minnesota hotel in June 2005, according to Rochester Police Department documents.

Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Mugshot

He has now been named as being closely involved with wanted Crypto-currency fraud queen Dr Ruja Ignatova.

FYI:
 

Just for information on whippings - In Saudi Arabia whippings are undertaken using many devices, including wooden lathes and metal cables (to increase the agony of the recipient). Traditionally the maximum lashes that could be prescribed was 100 and without the full force of the arm, which couldn't be extended above their waists. All this for only for 3 specific crimes (Adultery, Libel, and Drinking Alcohol). However in recent times under Wahhabi influence, these traditional restrictions are now ignored, with whipping sentences for many many offences, and the lashes in some cases ordered in the thousands (4,750 in the case of a Jeddah man accused of sexual relations with his sister-in-law in 2002).

* Figures vary on Royal Family membership: The Economist puts the figures as 15,000 living highnesses and royal highnesses, but others suggest a higher figure. These figures all include members of cadet branches i.e. those who can't inherit the title. The vast royal welfare program has cost the country a fortune - the last known figures are for November 1996 where it was reported that, ignoring the money gained via illegal land confiscations, and not paying loans taken from Saudi banks (all practises that many princes have reportedly used to supplement their state pensions), the state princes pension system was costing the Saudi's from about $800 a month for “the lowliest member of the most remote branch of the family” to $200,000-$270,000 a month for one of the surviving sons of Abdul-Aziz Ibn Saud. Grandchildren received around $27,000 a month, and Great-grandchildren received about $13,000, and great-great- grandchildren $8,000 a month - with 15,000 living highnesses and royal highnesses that's money on a scale no other country would tolerate. With bonus payments available for marriage and palace building, its estimated that the whole system cost the country some $2 billion a year, which had an annual budget of $40 billion back in 1996. Twenty years later the costs must be considerably more.

Update 2018: The Saudi annual budget for 2018 is $261 billion, so if the proportion paid to princes and princesses is the same i.e. about 5 per cent of the budget, then thats $13.5 billion pa.