She was Saudi Arabia’s “Barbie” princess; the pampered granddaughter of the Kingdom’s founder and daughter of one of his most powerful and favoured sons. Princess Sara bint Talal bin Abdulaziz, however, is claiming political asylum in the UK over fears for her safety back home. The claim, the first ever made by such a senior member of the ruling family’s inner circle, will embarrass the Saudi dynasty and threatens a diplomatic row.
Princess Sara, 38, accuses senior Saudi officials of plotting to kidnap her and smuggle her back to Riyadh, having subjected her to a “well orchestrated and malicious campaign of persecution”. She currently occupies a suite and several rooms in a five-star London hotel with her four children and two dogs, guarded by a private security team.
“I am very scared right now,” she told The Sunday 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.” 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.”