Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (Arabic: طلال بن عبد العزيز آل سعود‎; 15 August 1931 – 22 December 2018), formerly also called The Red Prince,[1] was a senior member of the Saudi royal family. He was notable for his liberal stance, striving for a national Constitution, the full rule of law and equality before the law. He was also the leader of Free Princes Movement in the 1960s.

Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Born(1931-07-24)24 July 1931
Ta'if, Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz
Died22 December 2018(2018-12-22) (aged 87)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Spouse
  • Umm Faisal (divorced)
  • Mona Al-Solh (divorced)
  • Moudie bint Abdul Mohsen Alangary (divorced)
  • Magdah bint Turki Al Sudairi (m. 1980)
FatherIbn Saud
MotherMunaiyir
HouseHouse of Saud

Early life

Prince Talal was born on 15 August 1931[2] as the twentieth son of King Abdulaziz.[3][4] His mother was an Armenian, Munaiyir, whose family escaped from the Armenian Genocide experienced under the reign of the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923.[5] Munaiyir was presented by the emir of Unayza to Ibn Saud in 1921 when she was 12 years old and Ibn Saud was 45.[5] Their first child was born when she was 15 years old, a son named Talal.[5] Following tradition, Munaiyir became known as Umm Talal, "mother of Talal". However, in 1927, the three-year-old Talal died.[5] In 1931, Talal was born and named in honor of his late brother, following the Bedouin tradition.[5] It is unknown when Abdulaziz divorced his fourth wife and formally wed Munaiyir.[5] She is reported by her family to have remained illiterate all her life and converted to Islam.[5] Munaiyir was regarded by British diplomats in Saudi Arabia as one of King Abdulaziz’s favourite wives.[6] She was as known for her intelligence as for her beauty.[6] She died in December 1991.[7]

Prince Talal was the full brother of Prince Nawwaf. During the reign of King Saud, they became bitter enemies, to the point of contesting their inheritances.[8] Sister of Prince Talal and Prince Nawwaf was Madawi who died in November 2017.[9]

Positions held

Minister of Communications

Prince Talal became one of the wealthiest young princes but his bureau suffered major corruption problems.[10] Prince Talal was made minister of communications when the office was established in 1952.[11] Then, King Abdulaziz created the ministry of the air force to represent all flight-related matters from his administration.[10] Because Prince Talal and Prince Mishaal contended over who controlled the national airlines, Saudi Arabia was to have two separate fleets.[10] The dispute ended when Prince Talal resigned in April 1955.[10] Later, the ministry of communication was merged with the ministry of finance after Prince Talal's resignation.[10] This allowed King Saud to skip choosing Talal's successor, which would have caused friction in the royal family no matter whom King Saud selected.[10]

Minister of Finance and National Economy

King Saud appointed Prince Talal as minister of finance and national economy in 1960.[12] He was removed from the office in 1961.[13][14] The reason for the removal of Prince Talal is that he proposed in September 1961 to establish a constitution in Saudi Arabia. However, King Saud had no intention or plan to reform the political system. Therefore, he forced Prince Talal to resign from the cabinet.[15] His brother Prince Nawwaf succeeded him in the post.[12]

Controversy

Free Princes Movement

After Prince Talal's palaces were searched by the Saudi Arabian National Guard while he was abroad, he held a press conference in Beirut on 15 August 1962. His statements caused a stir since he openly criticized and attacked the Saudi regime. As a consequence, his passport was withdrawn, his property confiscated, and some of his supporters in Saudi Arabia arrested. Soon the North Yemen Civil War began, and one week later, four crews of Saudi Arabian Airlines employees defected to Egypt. Prince Talal adopted the name of the 'Free Princes' in Cairo on 19 August 1962, and broadcast his progressive views on the Radio Cairo. Later, he and two of his brothers, Prince Fawwaz and Prince Badr,[16] and one of his cousins, Prince Saad, began to make statements on behalf of the Saudi Liberation Front. After four years, during which King Faisal offered tremendous financial inducements to the Free Princes, the latter were again reconciled with the royal family.[15]

His return to Saudi Arabia and rehabilitation was made possible through the mediation of his mother, Munaiyir. In exile, his own family did not support him and even criticized him for his intensive sympathy with then Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Saudi Arabia's foremost enemy. On 8 September 1963, The Sunday Telegraph reported that Talal's mother, Munaiyir, advised her son that he was behaving foolishly while his younger sister Madawi kept asking him to return home. A few days later, Prince Talal returned to Saudi Arabia. King Faisal reportedly refused to forgive Prince Talal but privately assured his mother that his assets would be unfrozen and that he could safely return home.[6]

Views

Prince Talal called for establishing a constitutional monarchy in Saudi Arabia in the 1960s.[17][18] Although he served in the cabinet led by King Saud, in August 1962 Prince Talal argued that King Saud had no quality to be the ruler of the country in the 20th century.[18]

Years later Prince Talal expressed his regret to form a political movement, namely Free Princes, due to the fact that it was commonly considered as a threat to the monarchy.[19]

After the September 11 attacks, Prince Talal challenged the "potentially very confusing" claim that rulers and religious scholars should jointly decide affairs of state.[20] In 2001 he openly stated his support for the establishment of an elected assembly in Saudi Arabia.[21] In September 2007, he announced his desire to form a political party to advance his goal of liberalizing the country.[22]

In 2009, Prince Talal stated, "King Abdullah is the ruler. If he wills it, it will be done."[23] However, in March 2009, he called on King Abdullah to clarify the appointment of Prince Nayef as second deputy prime minister.[24] He publicly questioned whether it would make Prince Nayef the next crown prince.[24] Prince Nayef was in fact named crown prince in October 2011 following the death of his brother, Prince Sultan. Prince Talal was a member of the Allegiance Council when the members were named in 2007. He resigned from the Council in November 2011, apparently in protest of late Prince Nayef's appointment as Crown Prince.[19] In April 2012, he said that the "hand of justice" should reach all the corrupt in Saudi Arabia, and called on the National Anti-Corruption Authority (NACA) to reach everyone, regardless of status.[25] In his June 2012 Al Quds Al Arabi interview, Prince Talal stated that the princes on the Allegiance Council were not consulted on the succession of Prince Salman and that the Council became ineffective.[17]

Various official and honorary positions
Bust of Talal bin Abdul-Aziz at the WHO building in Geneva, Switzerland

Prince Talal was one of the members of Al Saud Family Council which consisted of royals and was established by Crown Prince Abdullah in June 2000 to discuss private issues such as business activities of princes and marriages of princess to individuals who were not member of House of Saud.[26]

Prince Talal was the chairman of Arab Gulf Program For The United Nations Development (AGFUND), which promoted socioeconomic development in the Middle East.[27][28] As part of AGFUND, he led the board of trustees of the Arab Network for NGOs based in Cairo[29] and established the Arab Open University.[28] He also supported training of women through AGFUND.[30] Through AGFUND, he provided significant monetary support for UNICEF and UNICEF declared him as its Special Envoy in 1980.[31] He became UNESCO's Special Envoy for Water in 2002 to encourage the development of safe water.[32]

He was the president of the Arab Council for Childhood and Development.[33] He also helped create the Mentor Foundation and was an honorary member of its board of trustees.[34] He co-founded the Independent Commission for International Humanitarian Issues.[34] He was also a prominent member of the League for Development of the Pasteur Institute[34] and the honorary president of Saudi Society of Family and Community Medicine.[35]

Philanthropy

According to Riz Khan, "Prince Talal spent his post-political years developing humanitarian work, shedding the epithet 'The Red Prince' and becoming known as 'The Children's Prince' for his work with UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund."[36]:39

Personal life

Prince Talal was known to have wed four times. He first married Umm Faisal, who is the mother of Faisal. He later divorced her.

Next he married the Princess Mona Al-Solh, the daughter of Riad Al Solh, the first prime minister of Lebanon.[1][37] Their children are Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal,[37] Prince Khaled bin Talal and Princess Reema.[36] They married in September 1954.[38] The marriage collapsed in 1962; they remained separated until their divorce in 1968.[36] Prince Talal hired one professor from the University of Houston and an instructor to teach English, psychology and Western civilization to his daughter Reema, who was 18 years old, in Riyadh in 1976.[39]

His third wife was Moudie bint Abdul Mohsen Alangary. She is the mother of Turki, Sara and Noura. They later divorced. Lastly, he was married to Magdah bint Turki Al Sudairi, daughter of former Human Rights Commission President Turki bin Khaled Al Sudairi.[40]

Prince Talal had fifteen children, nine sons and six daughters. His sons are Faisal (died 1991), Al Waleed, Khaled, Turki, Abdulaziz, Abdul Rahman, Mansour, Mohammed and Mashour. His daughters are Reema, Sara, Noura, Al Joharah, Hibatallah and Maha. His daughter Sara claimed political asylum in the United Kingdom over fears for her safety in Saudi Arabia on 7 July 2012.[41]

Death

Prince Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud died in Riyadh on 22 December 2018.[19][42] His son Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Talal tweeted in Arabic language: "The Prince Talal bin Abdul Aziz has passed away on Saturday. May God forgive him and grant him heaven".[43]

Ancestry
gollark: All of what?
gollark: What is it doing?! Oops.
gollark: Where *are* you?
gollark: I was actually looking at ZWS-steganographically embedding metadata in webhooked messages and then using that to allow [REDACTED] transitive apiomeßaging.
gollark: Initiate apiothaumaturgy.

References
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  2. "The International Who's Who : Royal Families". The International Who's Who. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. Archived from the original on 5 May 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  3. Taheri, Amir (2012). "Saudi Arabia: Change Begins within the Family". The Journal of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy. 34 (3): 138–143. doi:10.1080/10803920.2012.686725.
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  5. Rossant, John (19 March 2002). "The return of Saudi Arabia's red prince". Online Asia Times. Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 18 October 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  6. Stenslie, Stig (2011). "Power Behind the Veil: Princesses of House of Saud". Journal of Arabian Studies: Arabia, the Gulf, and the Red Sea. 1 (1): 69–79. doi:10.1080/21534764.2011.576050.
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  43. طلال, عبدالعزيز بن (22 December 2018). "انتقل الى رحمة الله الامير طلال بن عبدالعزيز غفر الله له واسكنه فسيح جناته اليوم السبت، وسيتقبل ابناءه العزاء "للرجال والنساء" بالفاخرية، ايام الاحد، الاثنين والثلاثاء من بعد صلاة المغرب حتى صلاة العشاءرحمه الله واسكنه فسيح جناته {انا لله وانا اليه راجعون}٠١١٤٤٢٢١١١ للاستفسار". @AAzizTalal (in Arabic). Retrieved 23 December 2018.
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