Talal bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud
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Talal bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud (Arabic: طلال بن عبد العزيز آل سعود ) (b. 1931), sometimes called "The Red Prince", is a member of the House of Saud and a half brother to King Abdullah. He was one of a group of reformers within the royal family known as the Free Princes. In 1958 he wrote a proposed constitution for Saudi Arabia which would have created a constitutional monarchy and expanded civil rights. He even began to assemble an elected advisory committee, but his ideas were rejected by the king, and religious leaders in Saudi Arabia issued a fatwa declaring his constitution to be contrary to Islamic law. In 1961 the kingdom revoked his passport and attempted to silence him, but he expatrioted to Egypt and declared himself a socialist. There, influenced by Gamal Abdel Nasser, Talal continued to push for reform and criticise the leadership of the Kingdom.
In 1964 Talal agreed to temper his criticisms in exchange for permission to reenter Saudi Arabia. He is now a successful businessman and prominent philanthropist.
Talal is divorced three wife's - Um (mother of) Faisal bin Talal - Mona El-Solh Um Al-Waleed bin Talal, the daughter of Riad as-Solh, Lebanon's first prime minister after its independence - Um Turky bin Talal. Since 1980 married to a Sudairy (mother of eight) Um Abdul-Aziz bin Talal, her eldest son is an honorary BA student in Switzerland.
External links
- [Official website], ()
- [Political reform essential for Saudi Arabia, says Prince Talal] (Gulf News Online, September 2003)
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