A new book on Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud throws light on his “modern informal’ persona and his ascent to power. Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Karen House’s ‘The Man Who Would Be King’ seeks to uncover the strongest ruler of the Middle East who is reshaping Saudi Arabia.
House, who has over 40 years of experience covering the Arab kingdom, has revealed interesting facets about the crown prince in the book. “He is a modern, informal person. He still plays video games every morning,” House talks about her book in a podcast with Time Magazine.
House recalls her first meeting with bin Salman, known by the most common moniker MBS, saying how he had no airs of power “because he's got the real stuff.”
“MBS from the first time I met him in January of 2016 – well, I had met him before that actually with his father in 2010 – but when I met him as Deputy Crown Prince, you sit down, and the translator and the press minder are far away,” she added, stating the Crown Prince doesn’t try to “act like a potentate.”
“He rode his dirt bike up the hills at Al Ula, this place they're turning into a tourist site. And when the people on the other side saw that it was Mohammed bin Salman, they were totally shocked because again royal rulers don't ride dirt bikes,” House added.
On his ascent to power from being not his father’s favourite, House believes he had “a chip-on-the-shoulder quality” as his mother is King Salman’s third wife. “There is a chip-on-the-shoulder quality. He is the first of his mother’s sons. She's the third wife. His mother told him, ‘Don't be an also-ran to the first wife’s sons. You have to get out there and make something of yourself,” House said.
On the infamous purge at Ritz Carlton, House believes MBS had more than one purpose for the same. While one was to consolidate his power by removing from potential competition the sons of King Abdullah, the Crown Prince also had to “wring some of the corruption out to make young people think the playing field was level”.
