Saudi princess seeks asylum in UK

A scion of Saudi royal family has sought political asylum in the UK fearing serious threats to her life back home. Princess Sara bint Talal bin Abdulaziz, granddaughter of the Kingdom’s founder and daughter of one of his most powerful and favoured sons Prince Talal bin Abdulaziz al Saud, accused senior Saudi officials of plotting to kidnap and smuggle her back to Riyadh, having subjected her to a well orchestrated and malicious campaign of persecution.
Nicknamed “Barbie” princess by her family, Sara is currently living in a five-star London hotel with her four children and two dogs, surrounded by private security guards round the clock.
“I am very scared right now,” she told The Daily Telegraph at a secret location. “They know I can’t go back now. There is a threat. That’s a slap in the face of the Kingdom. I’ve been physically abused. I’ve been mentally abused. My assets have been frozen. They’ve accused me of being in opposition [to them] with Iran, they haven’t left anything. I’ve been crucified in every way.” On Friday, Princess Sara’s lawyers informed the UK Home Office of her intention to seek asylum. The government will assess the truth of the allegations and decide whether to offer her a safe haven – a diplomatic dilemma because Saudi authorities want her to return.
Princess Sara has lived in the UK since 2007 after she fell out with her 80-year-old father, Prince Talal bin Abdulaziz al Saud, known as The Red Prince. She says of her relationship with him: “Everything goes back to a certain aspect that I don’t discuss in public. Something happened with my father and he didn’t take it lightly. He retaliated against me and wanted to crush me. I had been his closest; I had been his favourite. It shook my world.” She has had a continuing inheritance battle with her older brother, Prince Turki bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al Saud, over their dead mother’s £325 million fortune, made up of cash, jewels and property in Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Egypt and Lebanon. She claims she was cut off from her inheritance. Saudi officials have asked her to return to Riyadh to argue her case, rather than air her grievances abroad.
Her grandfather was King Abdulaziz, the founder of the Saudi state. Her father, a radical and a reformer, was exiled briefly in the 1960s but returned to the fold, and her mother, who died of cancer in 2008, was Prince Talal’s third wife. Among her 14 brothers and sisters is Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, who runs the country’s sovereign wealth fund and is one of the richest men in the world. “They called me the little Barbie as I was like this cute little girl who had everything,” recalled Princess Sara of her childhood. “But my British nanny brought me up in a very strict manner. My branch of the family was always different from the rest of Al Saud – open, controversial and diverse. We celebrate Christmas.”