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A Royal in Morocco: The Strange Case of Princess Fahda al-Hithlayn

by Senior Analyst Talal Kapoor

The rarely seen wife of the king, Fahda bint Falah bin Sultan al-Hithlayn, caused a stir in early August when she arrived in one of the royal family's favorite spots, Morocco, for summer holiday. She was preceded the day before by her daughter Hussa, once notorious for her opulent lifestyle in Paris (she fled the city pleading diplomatic immunity in 2016, after allegedly ordering a bodyguard to murder a decorator who incurred her wrath). Fahda, the third and most recent wife of the king, is the mother of six of his children, including Muhammad bin Salman (MbS), the crown prince and heir apparent.

Fahda's family history is interwoven with that of the Al Saud, being not only a member of the important Ajman tribe, once powerful in the east around al-Ahsa, but also descended from a notable Ajman chief, Dhaydan bin Hithlayn. The Ajman were key players in the struggle between the sons of Faysal bin Turki in the later years of the 19th century, when Abdallah, the designated heir, and his brother Saud, who had been put in charge of the districts to the south of the capital Riyadh, came into open conflict. Saud's mother, Dashisha bint Rakan, was a member of the Ajman, and he married into the tribe as well. Saud had the support of the Ajman and other tribes in the ongoing warfare against his brother, and after his death the Ajman revolted against the new amir, Abdallah, although the uprising was put down. (Alliance with local tribal leaders through marriage was common, and Ibn Saud, the Kingdom's founder, later took the custom to an extreme with a countless number of brief, politically expedient, marriages (often nothing more than a single night) to the daughters of bedouin shaykhs during the unification of the desert region. The tradition continued into modern times (though to a lesser extent) as succeeding kings occasionally married bedu girls from important tribal families as well.

Fahda arrived at Ibn Battuta International Airport in Tangier in the early hours of August 1st, and from Tangier, visited the main cities in the north of the country, starting with Chefchaouen and Asilah. She was accompanied by an entourage of palace officials and guards, royals, and princesses from the ruling families of the Gulf. Her stay lasted a week, during which she toured the neighboring city of Marrakech. Known as a favorite tourist destination of the world's biggest celebrities, Morocco, in particular Tangier, is also a favorite of the Saudi royals, who regularly spend their summer holidays there. The king, who has been a frequent visitor (along with previous monarchs, notably the late Abdallah), has two residences. One is located on the heights of Tangier, the "city of the strait", in the residential district of Jebel Kebir, near the royal palace. The second residence overlooks the Atlantic Ocean, not far from the cave of Hercules.

Fahda stayed at the Soulaymania Palace, located in the coastal area of Jbila, which had undergone extensive development work in 2016. Renovations on the property included the addition of new buildings, helipads and a big top tent to entertain guests. The sprawling Tangier complex near Cape Spartel, above the beaches of Jbilia, also includes its own medical facilities and luxury restaurants. It was here, famously, that her husband Salman set a record for the most expensive holiday ever when he spent over $100m on his annual stay in Morocco in 2017. That trip was said to account for 1.5 percent of the country's annual foreign-tourism revenue. Arriving with an entourage of over 1,000 people, and staying at the 74-acre, purpose-built summer palace, he enjoyed the use of 100 black Mercedes and Range Rovers that were on call to escort him and the royal party around town. Another royal famous for his Moroccan stays was a former crown prince, and Salman's brother, Sultan, who had a palace in Agadir. Sultan spent much of 2009 there following treatment for cancer in the United States.

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