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Tribune News Service

Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has garnered international intrigue in the months since manoeuvring to become next in line for the throne.
Part of that plan was seemingly to hide his mother away from his father, the king – fearing she would block his power grab last June.
The crown prince has kept his mother’s whereabouts a secret from King Salman for more than two years, NBC News reported Thursday.
The Saudi Embassy in Washington denied the report, which added the king was told his third wife, Princess Fahda bint Falah bin Sultan, was often away for medical treatment.
The crown prince has carved out a unique reputation over the last year, as a reformer with questionable methods – who also loves art.
Mohammed bin Salman came to power last June at 31, after serving as deputy crown prince and Defence Minister.
But he persuaded his father, now 82, to drop his cousin, Prince Muhammad bin Nayef, as crown prince in favour of him.
Mohammed bin Salman has been credited with reforms such as allowing women the right to drive, and branching out to Silicon Valley.
US President Donald Trump has applauded the work Mohammed bin Salman has done on behalf of his octogenarian father. He will also host him at the White House on Tuesday.
Trump backed Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts in November to go after corrupt Saudi officials – including members of the royal family.
“I have great confidence in King Salman and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, they know exactly what they are doing,” Trump tweeted in November.
“Some of those they are harshly treating have been ‘milking’ their country for years!”
The corruption round-up yielded the arrests of dozens of princes and other officials.
Several were freed after settling with the government, NBC News reported.
Princess Fahda hasn’t seen the head of state in about two years, NBC News reported.
The king has told people he misses her, believing she’s often out of Saudi Arabia for medical treatment.
He mentioned to US president Barack Obama in 2015 that he hoped to see his wife during his visit to the US, the network reported, but Obama didn’t mention she was in the country.
NBC said that chatter heard by the US caught Mohammed bin Salman discussing efforts to separate his parents without his father’s knowledge, and Princess Fahda is reportedly often under house arrest at a Saudi Arabian palace.
The rift started within the last few years, one source told NBC News, as Mohammed bin Salman was worried one of his siblings could make a power play.
Saudi officials denied the account, at one point telling the network, “The story is absolutely false and highly offensive.”
But power and family strife aren’t the only things on the prince’s mind.
Intelligence sources told The Wall Street Journal in early December that the crown prince was behind the record-shattering US$450.3 million purchase of Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait of Jesus Christ.
Mystery had surrounded who had bought the 500-year-old “Salvator Mundi” painting when it went up for auction in London a month earlier.
Mohammed bin Salman reportedly used a proxy to buy the painting, which was set to go on display at the Louvre Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
This wasn’t the first high-profile transaction the crown prince has made.
While he was vacationing in the south of France three years ago, the prince spotted the Serene – one of the world’s largest yachts – and decided to buy it on the spot.
The New York Times previously reported he paid Russian vodka tycoon Yuri Shefler US$550 million for the ship – and had him move out that day.


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Is Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman hiding his mother from the king?

Embassy says King Salman believes his third wife is receiving medical treatment overseas, but NBC reports her powerful son may have her under house arrest in a Saudi palace

(FILES) In this file photo taken on March 7, 2018 Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman waving as he arrives for talks at 10 Downing Street, in central London. Likening Iran's leader to Adolf Hitler, Saudi Arabia's crown prince warned in a US television interview that if Tehran gets a nuclear weapon, his country will follow suit. "Saudi Arabia does not want to acquire any nuclear bomb, but without a doubt, if Iran developed a nuclear bomb, we will follow suit as soon as possible," Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in an excerpt of the interview that aired March 15, 2018 on "CBS This Morning."The 32-year-old Prince Mohammed said he has referred to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as "the new Hitler" because "he wants to expand." / AFP PHOTO / Tolga AKMEN

King Salman (left), with Crown Prince Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Photo: AP

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The son of Saudi King Salman is already seen as the country’s de facto ruler controlling the major levers of government

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves after delivering a speech about her vision for Brexit, at Mansion House in London, Britain, March 2, 2018. REUTERS/Leon Neal/Pool

A picture taken on February 28, 2018 shows a view of the Pyramids of Giza on the southwestern outskirts of the Egyptian capital Cairo. / AFP PHOTO / KHALED DESOUKI

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the son of Saudi King Salman is already seen as the country’s de facto ruler controlling the major levers of government. Photo: AFP

Saudi crown prince ends UK visit with push for jet fighter deal

Members of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s delegation leaving 10 Downing Street on March 7, 2018. Photo: AFP

Britain's Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson arrives in Downing street on central London on March 6, 2018 for the weekly meeting of the Cabinet. / AFP PHOTO / Niklas HALLEN

Protesters in Whitehall, London, demonstrate against the official visit by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Wednesday March 7, 2018. Mohammed bin Salman received a royal welcome and high level political meetings, while being criticized by protesters against the war in Yemen, as he began a three-day visit to Britain on Wednesday. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on March 07, 2018 An RAF Typhoon jet is seen at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire on March 7, 2018. Britain has signed a multi-billion-pound preliminary order from Saudi Arabia for 48 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets, military equipment maker BAE Systems said on March 9, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / PHIL NOBLE

Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (R) and Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, (L) meet with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C) for dinner at Clarence House in central London on March 7, 2018. British Prime Minister Theresa May will "raise deep concerns at the humanitarian situation" in war-torn Yemen with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his visit to Britain beginning Wednesday, according to her spokesman. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / Yui Mok

Britain's Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby shows The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman a selection of early texts from the Christian, Muslim and Jewish faiths from the Lambeth Palace library collection during a private meeting at Lambeth Palace, London, Britain, March 8, 2018. REUTERS/Yui Mok/Pool

Saudi crown prince is playing with fire

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Photo: Reuters

Saudi crown prince was secret buyer of US$450 million Da Vinci painting, claims report citing US intelligence

Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's crown prince, used a minor member of the Saudi royal family as a proxy buyer for Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, US intelligence suggests. Photo: Bloomberg

FILE- In this Oct. 24, 2017 file photo, an employee poses with Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" on display at Christie's auction rooms in London. The rare painting of Christ, which that sold for a record $450 million, is heading to a museum in Abu Dhabi. The newly-opened Louvre Abu Dhabi made the announcement in a tweet on Wednesday, Dec. 6. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

Saudi crown prince ‘is secret buyer of US$300m French chateau’, world’s priciest home

Fortune magazine reported at the time of its US$300 million 2015 sale that the Chateau Louis XIV in Louveciennes, France, had smashed records to become the world’s priciest home. Photo: COGEMAD

FILE - In this July, 23, 2017 file photo, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman poses while meeting with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia announced on Monday, Dec. 11, 2017 it will allow movie theaters to open in the conservative kingdom next year, for the first time in more than 35 years, in the latest social push by the country’s young crown prince. (Presidency Press Service/Pool Photo via AP, File)

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Middle East

Embassy says King Salman believes his third wife is receiving medical treatment overseas, but NBC reports her powerful son may have her under house arrest in a Saudi palace
