Saudi Prince’s Paris Hotel to Get Facelift→

Nazanin Lankarani reports for the International Herald Tribune on the planned renovation of the Hôtel de Crillon, a Paris icon now owned by a Saudi prince:

Until 2005, the Crillon was French-owned. From 1788 to about 1906, it was the private residence of the Crillon family who gave the property its current name. In 1907, the Société du Louvre, a holding of the Taittinger family known for its Champagne label, acquired the property along with adjacent buildings to create a luxury hotel.

In 2005, the Crillon was sold to the American group Starwood Capital, owner of the chain of the W hotels and St. Regis hotels, who in turn sold the hotel in 2010 to Prince Mitab bin Abdullah bin Abdelaziz al-Saud for a reported €250 million, about $319 million at today’s exchange rates.

Miteb bin Abdullah is son of the King and Commander of the Saudi National Guard (SANG). He is one of senior princes expected to play an important role in future succession plans in the kingdom.

Day in the Life of King Abdullah→

As narrated by his son Prince Miteb:

King Abdullah wakes up early in the morning and performs Fajr prayer then supplicates Allah for a long time before reading the Holy Qur’an. Afterwards, he sleeps and wakes up around 8:30 a.m. Then he performs Al-Dhuha prayer and has his breakfast and asks for the day’s business. The Chief of the Royal Court, Khalid Al-Twaijri, brings the list of the day’s activities to the King.

After performing Dhuhur prayer, the King signs files and takes decisions. This continues until Asr prayer. In between, he sometimes answers phone calls or receives visitors. This depends on his schedule. In the evening, he gets back to work. Later he tries to walk for a long time. This is how the King spends his day.

In Supportive Gesture, Saudi Prince Visits New Media Startup

Several local media outlets have published a press release put out by the Jeddah-based digital production company U-Turn to publicize a visit made by Prince Miteb bin Abdullah to the company’s HQ in the coastal city last month. This is interesting for a couple of reasons.

Prince Miteb, the King’s son, is Commander of the National Guard who also attends the weekly cabinet meetings in his capacity as state minister. He is also one of the major contenders to assume one of the leadership positions in Saudi Arabia’s succession plans.

U-Turn is a new media startup founded by Anmar Fathaldin and his friends in 2010. They produce YouTube shows that focus on entertainment with a social-conscious message. Their flagship show, “3al6ayer” (“On the Fly”), has been widely praised, and their YouTube channels have been watched by millions of viewers.

They are the pioneers in the field of new media production in Saudi Arabia, and they were soon followed by a few similar startups like C3 Films and Sa7i.

Using YouTube as their main medium, these new media companies founded by young people are tapping into a huge market. With more than 90 million views every day, Saudi Arabia has the highest number of YouTube views in the world per Internet user. According to stats released by Google, 76 percent of Saudi internet users actively watch videos on their smartphones.

“Miteb bin Abdullah’s visit is a recognition of our influence,” said Lama Sabri, a psychology graduate who works as a writer in U-Turn. The 24-year-old said the prince took a tour at the company’s HQ then sat down for an informal chat with the staff. “He did most of the talking,” Sabri said. “He said ‘you are doing a good thing and the state is supporting you’.”

The visit certainly constitutes a high level of support coming from one of the country’s top senior officials, but Sabri insisted that this won’t change the way they work. “We control the content,” she said. “Not the advertisers or any personality. The way we work has not changed,” since Miteb bin Abdullah visited them on October 16, 2012.

However, she expressed concern that some people might perceive the visit as an official stamp of approval by the government. “People begin to wonder if we are backed by the government. This is not true,” she said.

The rising voices on social media are often described as a source of anxiety to the government, and some observers might see such visit as an attempt to co-opt these new voices. Most of the YouTube shows have been careful about pushing the red lines, but makers of the show say they see social change as part of their role.

Anmar Fathaldin told Saudi Gazette in September they still have a long way to go. He has since left U-Turn to start a new company.

“We are still at baby steps.”