When you think of absolute monarchies, the mind often drifts to stern decrees and rigid customs. Yet, amid the austere regulations that bind the everyday Saudi citizen, the kingdom’s own royal family lives a world of excess where scandalous tales sprout like desert thorns. Below, we unveil the 10 sordid stories that reveal how power, privilege, and peril intertwine within the House of Saud.
10 Sordid Stories Unveiled
10. Princess Basmah’s Fake Sheikh
Her Royal Highness Princess Basmah bint Saud bin Abdulaziz al Saud, a granddaughter of the kingdom’s first monarch and daughter of the second, has long been a thorn in the side of the ruling elite thanks to her outspoken reformist stance and human‑rights advocacy. She has publicly urged the kingdom to adopt a constitution guaranteeing gender equality, civil liberties, divorce‑law reform, an overhaul of the education system, and the abolition of the mahram requirement that forces Saudi women to travel accompanied by a male guardian.
Despite championing these causes, she attracted the ire of those seeking to destabilise the dynasty. In 2013, a hacker—posing as a 30‑year‑old sheikh from the United Arab Emirates—invaded a friend’s Facebook account and coaxed the princess into a private chat. The ruse led to recorded Skype conversations where the impostor, using lavish flattery, tried to draw her into sexually explicit dialogue. Allegedly, the hacker also breached her computer, pilfering videos and photographs. After months of manipulation, the blackmailer demanded £320,000 be wired to an Egyptian bank account.
Choosing exposure over capitulation, Princess Basmah went public. The blackmailer responded by uploading a 40‑second YouTube clip that showed the princess smoking and blowing a kiss with her head uncovered—an act that, while harmless by Western standards, ignited a massive scandal in conservative Saudi society. She suspects the plot is linked to the operators behind the Mujtahidd Twitter account, a collective of dissidents who routinely publish intimate details of royal family members to undermine the regime.
9. Prince Nayef’s Cocaine Plane
In 2004, Prince Nayef bin Fawwaz Al Shalaan faced indictment in both the United States and France for his involvement in a massive cocaine‑smuggling operation linking South America to Europe. The saga traces back to a romance in the 1970s at the University of Miami, where the prince fell for Colombian student Doris Mangeri. Over the years, they kept in touch, and the prince even assumed a quasi‑paternal role for her children. By 1998, through Mangeri, he allegedly entered contact with a Colombian cartel headed by Juan Gabriel Usuga and Carlos Ramon—both brothers‑in‑law who, after losing an eye each in separate accidents, amassed a fortune in narcotics and operated a ranch near Medellín dubbed the “Cyclops Cattle Ranch.”
The prince purportedly suggested using his private Boeing 727 to transport cocaine, planning to launder the proceeds via Kanz Bank, the sole Islamic private bank in Geneva that he owned. He had a prior drug‑related indictment in Mississippi in 1984. According to prosecutors, the cartel agreed, and 2,000 kilograms (about 4,400 lb) of cocaine were moved to a Caracas stash house via a potato‑laden truck, then transferred into 100 empty Samsonite suitcases before being loaded onto the prince’s jet. The cargo was later shifted to a Paris stash house, with portions shipped onward to Italy and Spain. However, law‑enforcement raids in Paris and Spain intercepted the shipments, and the Colombian conspirators were arrested in the United States.
Even as the Saudi kingdom enforces strict anti‑drug policies, Prince Nayef defended his meetings as merely seeking investors for a plastics venture and was ultimately acquitted by the courts. With no extradition treaties between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. or France, authorities were hamstrung. Notably, interior minister Prince Nayef bin Abdel Aziz threatened to cancel French business deals if the investigation persisted. The prince remains at large, and during court testimony, a cartel member claimed the prince answered the question of why he smuggled drugs with, “The world is already doomed. I’m authorized by God to sell drugs.”
8. The Execution Of Princess Misha’al
This tragic tale mirrors a real‑life Romeo and Juliet. Princess Misha’al bint Fahd al Saud entered an arranged marriage—widely reported as unhappy—with an older cousin. Seeking education, she relocated to Beirut, where she met Khaled, the son of a Saudi diplomat, and began an illicit affair. The lovers maintained their relationship upon her return to Saudi Arabia, eventually attempting to flee together in 1977. Their plan was foiled, and rather than renounce Khaled, Princess Misha’al confessed to adultery, enraging her grandfather, King Muhammad bin Abdul‑Aziz, the brother of the reigning monarch.
The pair were seized in a Jeddah parking lot; the 19‑year‑old princess was executed by a single gunshot to the head while her lover watched. He was subsequently beheaded, a botched execution requiring four strokes. The Saudi authorities tried to suppress the incident, but the story sparked international outrage when the BBC and PBS aired a documentary titled Death Of A Princess in 1980.
Saudi officials attempted to block the film, but the effort failed. In retaliation, they expelled the British ambassador, withdrew 400 royal family members from the United Kingdom, and caused an estimated £200 million loss in UK orders and product boycotts. The documentary was rebroadcast in 2005 and remains available online.
7. Royal Lockup
Televised testimony from Princess Anoud al Fayez—one of the late King Abdullah’s many ex‑wives—reveals that the king allegedly kept four of his daughters—Princesses Jawaher, Sahar, Hala, and Maha—under a form of virtual house arrest within the Jeddah royal compound. For the past 14 years, half‑siblings purportedly oversaw their confinement, allegedly as punishment for “racy” lifestyles and criticism of the royal family. While some of Abdullah’s daughters have pursued successful careers and championed human‑rights causes, these four appear singled out for mysterious reasons.
The women, now in their thirties and forties, reportedly endure dire conditions. In a recent RT interview, Princesses Hala and Maha claimed they were running low on food and water. An Arabic‑language TV interview highlighted that their detention stems from their outspoken stance on women’s rights and opposition to male guardianship. Saudi authorities have never formally charged them, branding the matter a “private affair.”
Princess Sahar, in correspondence with a Middle‑East current‑affairs outlet, detailed their plight: the sisters and their mother have long advocated for poverty alleviation, women’s rights, and related causes, which angered half‑brothers Mitab and AbdelAziz. Over the past 15 years, conditions have worsened. Hala, while interning at a Riyadh hospital, discovered political prisoners being drugged and shamed in psychiatric wards, reported the abuse, and faced retaliation, including threats, drugging, kidnapping, and eventual confinement in Olaysha’s Women’s Jail. The sisters allege repeated drugging, kidnapping, and a systematic effort to break their spirit.
6. Halloween At Faisal’s
Although Saudi law bans Halloween and most foreign holidays for being “un‑Islamic,” the royal family enjoys a different set of rules. According to U.S. diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks, a clandestine Halloween celebration took place in 2009 at the residence of Prince Faisal al Thunayan, a cadet prince—not in line for the throne but still basking in royal privileges.
The soirée attracted over 150 young Saudi men and women. Religious police were kept at bay by “khawi”—young Nigerian bodyguards who grow up alongside their princes and pledge lifelong loyalty. Despite the kingdom’s prohibition on alcohol, Filipino bartenders served a cocktail punch made from “sadiqi,” a locally produced moonshine, with bottles of premium liquor filled with the same spirit displayed prominently.
The event, co‑sponsored by U.S. energy‑drink brand Kizz‑me, featured dancing, costumes, and a DJ. American consulate officials who attended reported that many female guests were, in fact, prostitutes hired for the night, and that cocaine and hashish use were commonplace. While a decade ago the wealthy Saudi elite’s nightlife was limited to informal “dating” in private homes, today many royal residences boast basements turned into bars, discos, and entertainment centres catering to a growing appetite for Western‑style nightlife.
5. The Death Of Bandar Abdulaziz
In 2010, Prince Saud bin Abdulaziz bin Nasir al Saud was arrested after beating his manservant and lover, Bandar Abdulaziz, to death in a lavish London hotel suite. The assault reportedly followed weeks of physical and sexual abuse, culminating on Valentine’s Day when, fueled by champagne and “sex on the beach” cocktails, the prince struck Abdulaziz 37 times and even bit both of his cheeks. The victim succumbed to his injuries.
After the attack, the prince ordered glasses of milk and water, dragged the body onto the bed, and attempted a clumsy cleanup to conceal the crime. During the trial, he spent considerable effort denying his own homosexuality—a crime punishable by death in Saudi Arabia—though experts noted that most executions for homosexual acts in the kingdom are linked to rape charges, and royal status likely shielded him from capital punishment.
Some observers argue the cover‑up aimed to hide the sexual dimension of the crime. The prince and Abdulaziz had a long‑standing, abusive relationship, sharing shopping trips, meals, and hotel stays, yet the prince repeatedly assaulted his lover. CCTV footage from a parking lot captured Abdulaziz submitting to a beating before meekly following his master away. The prince tried to claim the death resulted from a prior robbery where Abdulaziz allegedly lost €3,000, but forensic evidence disproved this, showing the wounds were recent. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, but in 2013 he was repatriated to Saudi Arabia as part of a prisoner‑exchange deal that allowed five British nationals detained in Saudi Arabia to serve their sentences at home.
4. Prince Turki And Princess Hind
In 1973, Prince Turki bin Abdul Aziz married the striking 20‑year‑old Hind al‑Fassi, daughter of a Sufi mystic barred from entering Saudi Arabia, despite his family’s objections. He divorced his first wife to wed her, and together they embarked on a nine‑year globe‑trotting adventure with Hind’s mother, sister, and brothers—Mohammed, Allal, Mustafa, and Tarek—accompanied by a sizable entourage.
The couple eventually settled in a North Miami condominium, the Cricket Club, overlooking Biscayne Bay, after being urged by Alvin Malnik, a multimillion‑dollar Jewish lawyer with alleged mob ties they met in London. Malnik quickly won over Hind’s brothers with his charm and seized control of the prince’s finances. Family drama unfolded: Mohammed, jealous of Malnik’s influence, travelled to Turkey, adopted a young boy, and abandoned his Italian girlfriend to marry a Saudi woman. Seventeen‑year‑old Tarek kidnapped a Saudi woman at a London discotheque, proposed to her, and offered cash to her husband for a divorce. Malnik’s son, Mark, fell for Hind’s sister.
Miami proved a fertile playground for the al‑Fassi clan, who indulged in extravagant parties and reckless behaviour. In 1982, local newspapers alleged that servants on the prince’s compound worked around the clock for meagre wages, barred from leaving or contacting outsiders. Police raids resulted in a chaotic showdown: officers, accompanied by an interpreter, entered the compound, sparking a shouting match with Princess Hind and her bodyguards. During the melee, Hind’s mother, from a bathroom, asked an officer for a towel, which he handed over; she then bit his arm.
Legal battles ensued, but diplomatic immunity—arranged by the State Department and the Saudi ambassador—saved the prince from prosecution. Ordered to return to Saudi Arabia, the family soon relocated to Egypt, commandeering the top three floors of the Ramses Hilton. Throughout the 1990s, Egyptian press detailed lurid accounts of servant beatings and thuggish bodyguards. Two Egyptian waiters reportedly fell to their deaths while attempting to escape down the hotel’s façade using tied bedsheets. Hind earned notoriety for refusing to settle a substantial debt with a local jeweler and for entertaining male guests, including famous Arab singers, while Prince Turki often passed out from prescription medication prescribed by his domineering wife.
3. Phoney Dinner For Prince Charles
According to a 2006 Wikileaks cable, U.S. Consul General Tatiana Gfoeller detailed a disastrous dinner hosted by Prince Khalid bin Faisal al‑Saud for the visiting Prince Charles. Both princes share a love of landscape painting and even co‑hosted an art exhibition in London and Riyadh. Prince Khalid, nervous about the event, faced a run‑down palace in desperate need of renovation.
The soirée was orchestrated by a “prominent Western businessman” who, under pressure, was told by Prince Khalid that renovating the palace’s ground floor was his responsibility. When the businessman asked to decline, he received a firm “no.” With only three weeks to work, he cut power to the palace to hide the shoddy repairs, filled wall holes with Styrofoam, and projected decorative designs onto the surfaces. The dinner was illuminated solely by candles, further masking the hasty fixes.
The ruse succeeded; Prince Charles praised the palace’s luxury and beauty. The businessman was rewarded with paintings from both princes and a tip exceeding $13,000. He later described Prince Khalid as “extremely cheap.” This episode gained significance when Prince Khalid later became governor of Mecca, sparking speculation he might someday ascend the throne.
2. Rape At The Plaza Hotel
In 2010, Prince Abdul Aziz bin Fahd enjoyed an extravagant stay at New York’s Plaza Hotel, occupying a massive 370‑square‑meter (4,000 ft²) fourth‑floor suite while his entourage filled 50 additional rooms across the Plaza and neighboring hotels. The prince’s entourage had been lodged there for four months when Mustapha Ouanes, a mechanical engineer employed by Saudi Ogere, allegedly raped a 26‑year‑old barmaid who had fallen asleep in his suite.
On January 26, Ouanes met the barmaid and a friend at a West Village bar, sharing drinks before heading to his two‑room suite with the intention of a casual breakfast. The women, intoxicated with alcohol and hashish, passed out, only to awaken to Ouanes assaulting the barmaid. In court, the defense argued the women attempted to extort money for sex, fabricating a rape story after Ouanes refused.
Plaza employee Nizar Adeeb testified that when police arrived, a distraught woman shouted, “Do you work for the prince, too?” As Ouanes was taken away, Adeeb handed him a $100 bill and covered his handcuffs with a coat, stating the priority was protecting the Plaza’s reputation rather than the victim’s welfare. Ouanes was convicted and sentenced to ten years in prison, and the judge dismissed an appeal based on the defendant’s alleged coronary artery disease.
1. The Assassination Of King Faisal
In 1975, Saudi King Faisal, renowned for his modernization drive, close ties with the United States, and support for pan‑Islamism, fell victim to a brutal assassination by his nephew, Prince Faisal Ibu Musaed. On March 25, the king was holding a majlis—a public audience where citizens could present petitions. Outside, the prince chatted with Kuwaiti officials awaiting their turn.
When the king emerged, Prince Faisal rushed forward, embracing his uncle in a customary gesture that included a kiss on the head. In a sudden turn, the prince fired three shots, striking the king in the chin and ear. A bodyguard then struck the prince with a sheathed sword as Oil Minister Zaki Yamani shouted, “Don’t kill the prince!” The king was rushed to a hospital where doctors administered a blood transfusion and massaged his heart, but he could not be revived.
Legend holds that the king’s dying wish was for his nephew to be spared. Nevertheless, Prince Faisal’s brother, Khalid, assumed the throne after a three‑day national mourning period. Prince Faisal was declared insane, though a panel of Saudi medical experts later deemed him sane at the time of the killing. He was convicted of regicide by the high religious court and executed by beheading in a public square at the Al Hukm Palace in Riyadh before thousands of onlookers.
Conspiracy theories abound, but investigations concluded that Prince Faisal acted alone. Possible motives include revenge for the death of Prince Khalid bin Musa’id, who was killed by a policeman while leading an attack on a television station—an outlet King Faisal had recently introduced, sparking violent backlash.