The Saudi Royal Family Directory is the comprehensive source for biographic and geneological information on the Saudi Arabian Royal family. The database includes over 5,000 records of Saudi Royal family members. You can search the database and view the family tree for free. For online biographic reports, check out the subscription page.

The 'Dissent' of Prince Ahmad: Bad Blood or Widening Rupture?

the new normal?

On the other, as the policies of MbS come to be seen as an unfolding disaster (the never ending war and humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen, the slow-motion failure of plans to take Saudi economically into an age beyond a strict reliance on fossil fuel), his accession looks premature. Senior royals such as Ahmad are marginalised, forced to watch from the sidelines, helpless to intervene as the family structure of consensus is cast aside and the traditional alliance with the religious establishment is threatened, all in the name of disruption. Undoubtedly, Ahmad is expressing what many in the family feel; Ahmad's stature gives the luxury of expressing it in public. But whether his apparent criticism of the king and crown prince indicate an irreparable break in family unity is another matter. If the official statement is genuine, the issue may have already been resolved behind closed doors. And yet, as traditional strictures are thrown off and boundaries violated, perhaps Ahmad's norm shattering is just another sign of the disruption underway.

Previous