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Saudi Royal Family Tree


Abdulaziz ibn Saud

Saud bin Abdulaziz

Faisal bin Abdulaziz

Khaled bin Abdulaziz

Fahd bin Abdulaziz

Abdullah bin Abdulaziz

Sultan bin Abdulaziz

Talal bin Abdulaziz

Nayef bin Abdulaziz

Salman bin Abdulaziz

Muqrin bin Abdulaziz

Saud Al Faisal

Khaled Al Faisal

Miteb bin Abdullah

Alwaleed bin Talal

Mohammed bin Fahd

Khaled bin Sultan

Bandar bin Sultan

Saud bin Nayef

Mohammed bin Nayef

Faisal bin Salman

Mohammed bin Salman

Sultan bin Salman

Photo: Associated Press

The New King

Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud

King from 2015, Crown Prince 2012 – 2015, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense

Salman was named as the country’s new crown prince in 2012, succeeding his brother Nayef. He is also one of the seven sons born to Ibn Saud’s favorite wife, Hassa bint Ahmed al-Sudairi. In 1962, he became governor of Riyadh Province and ruled the province until he became defense minister in 2011. Salman has played an increasingly prominent role in Saudi politics in recent years. He is known to favor close political and economic ties with the West. Born in 1935.

Photo: Associated Press

The Previous King

Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud

King 2005 – 2015

Abdullah became king in 2005 after spending a decade as an effective ruler of the country during the illness of King Fahd. Abdullah pushed a program of cautious domestic reforms aimed at reconciling the kingdom’s conservative social identity with the needs of a modern economy. He responded to the 2011 Arab Spring by banning protests and supporting dictatorial allies in neighboring countries.

The Rest of the Family

Below, explore details on the remaining sons and brothers in the family, organized by earliest generation to later.

Photo: Associated Press

King Abdulaziz ibn Saud

King 1932 – 1953

As a young man, Ibn Saud led a small band of men to recapture his family’s ancient territory of Riyadh, in central Arabia, and went on to build a desert kingdom under the flag of Islamic revival. On Sept. 23, 1932, the country was named the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. By the time of his death, it stretched from the Gulf to the Red Sea and from Iraq to Yemen.

Photo: Associated Press

Saud bin Abdulaziz al Saud

King 1953 – 1964

Upon Abdulaziz’s death in 1953, his eldest son, Saud, acceded to the throne. Some historians said of Saud that he would have made a wonderful Bedouin chief. But as the leader of a modern state, with growing oil revenue, he oversaw a disordered government that squandered its new found wealth and failed to respond to the needs of a new age.

Photo: Associated Press

Faisal bin Abdulaziz al Saud

King 1964 – 1975

Faisal secured the throne in 1964, after a protracted power struggle with his half brother King Saud, and turned the desert kingdom into a functioning modern state. He oversaw the rise of Saudi Arabia as a world energy powerhouse during the Arab oil embargo of the early 1970s. He was assassinated by a nephew in 1975.

Photo: Associated Press

Khaled bin Abdulaziz al Saud

King 1975 – 1982

Khaled became king as an elderly man with a strong sense of religious duty. He was appalled by the 1979 siege of Mecca, in which Islamic extremists seized the holy mosque and could only be forced out after a violent battle.

Photo: Associated Press

Fahd bin Abdulaziz al Saud

King 1982 – 2005

Fahd was the eldest of the so-called “Sudairi seven,” a powerful group of seven princes born to Ibn Saud’s favorite wife, Hassa bint Ahmad al-Sudairi. A leading member of the government and royal family from the 1960s onwards, Fahd modernized the kingdom’s infrastructure with grand projects, but allowed Islamic conservatives greater sway over education and society. King Fahd never fully recovered from a stroke in 1995, and gave his half-brother Abdullah de facto control of the kingdom more than a decade before his death in 2005.

Photo: Associated Press

Sultan bin Abdulaziz al Saud

Crown Prince 2005 – 2011

Sultan was the second of the so-called “Sudairi seven,” a powerful group of seven princes born to Ibn Saud’s favorite wife, Hassa bint Ahmad al-Sudairi. He became the country’s defense and aviation minister in 1962, a role he used to cement Saudi relations with Western countries using a string of massive arms contracts. He died in October 2011 in New York City, after six years as heir to his elder half brother, King Abdullah. According to Saudi Arabia’s state news agency, Sultan was born sometime in 1928, though some experts on the Saudi monarchy believe he was actually born in 1925.

Photo: Associated Press

Prince Talal bin Abdulaziz al Saud

UNESCO Special Envoy for Water

Prince Talal is known as the Red Prince for his politically liberal views. He led the Free Princes movement in the 1960s, which called for the end of the absolute monarchy in Saudi Arabia and expanded civil rights, reforms that his family shot down. He is an active member of UNESCO.

Photo: Associated Press

Nayef bin Abdulaziz al Saud

Crown Prince 2011 – 2012

Nayef was one of the so-called “Sudairi seven,” a powerful group of seven princes born to Ibn Saud’s favorite wife, Hassa bint Ahmad al-Sudairi. In 1975, he was made Interior Minister. Nayef succeeded Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz al Saud as heir to the throne in October 2011. He was about 70 when he died in June 2012, although his exact birth date wasn’t recorded.

Photo: Associated Press

Muqrin bin Abdulaziz al Saud

Crown Prince from 2015, Deputy prime minister

Muqrin was the head of the country’s intelligence agencies until 2012, when he was replaced by his nephew, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, and named adviser and special envoy to King Abdullah.
In February 2013, the king named Muqrin second deputy prime minister, making him second, after Crown Prince Salman as likely successor to the throne.
Born in 1945, Muqrin is the youngest surviving member of Abdulaziz’s sons.

Photo: Associated Press

Saud bin Faisal al Saud

Prince, Minister of Foreign Affairs

King Khalid appointed Prince Saud as foreign minister in 1975. He was born in 1940.

Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Khaled bin Faisal al Saud

Prince, Minister of Education

He was appointed Minister of Education in December 2013 with a mandate to reform the education system and eliminate extremism from schools. Before that he was Governor of Mecca Province, home to Islam’s holiest sites.

Photo: Associated Press

Miteb bin Abdullah al Saud

Prince, Minister of the National Guard

Prince Miteb, a son of Abdullah, inherited from his father the leadership of the Saudi Arabian National Guard, the military force that evolved from Ibn Saud’s original tribal army and later functioned as a sort of Praetorian Guard to protect the regime from possible coups.

Photo: Associated Press

Alwaleed bin Talal al Saud

Businessman

Alwaleed owns a majority stake of Kingdom Holding Co. Alwaleed invests in banks, hotels and media firms.

Photo: Associated Press

Mohammed bin Fahd al Saud

Prince, Former Gov. Eastern Province

Mohammed was appointed governor of the Eastern Province in 1979, soon after a Shia rebellion there. The Eastern Province is not only home to the Shiite minority but is the center of Saudi oil production. Mohammed was replaced in January 2013 by his cousin, Saud bin Nayef.

Photo: Associated Press

Khaled bin Sultan al Saud

Prince, Former Deputy Minister of Defense

In April 2013, King Abdullah removed Prince Khalid as Deputy Minister of Defense, which was seen as lowering his profile in the Saudi family. Analysts pointed to Prince Khalid’s perceived poor performance in a 2009 Saudi military offensive across the border in Yemen, and to questions about his role in arms deals.
The eldest son of late Crown Prince Sultan, Prince Khaled commanded Saudi forces during the Gulf War of 1991 and the maladroit operation against Yemeni rebels in 2009. He was born in 1959.

Photo: Associated Press

Bandar bin Sultan al Saud

Prince, Secretary-General of National Security Council

Another son of late Crown Prince Sultan, Prince Bandar was popular with Western leaders as Saudi envoy to the U.S. from 1983 to 2005. He forged close relationships with both President George H.W. Bush and President George W. Bush. Former chief of general intelligence.

Photo: Saudi Press Agency

Saud bin Nayef al Saud

Gov. Eastern Province

Prince Saud was named governor of the oil-rich Eastern Province in January 2013. He served as ambassador to Spain from 2003 until 2011, when he returned to Riyadh to serve at the court of his late father, Crown Prince Nayef.

Photo: Associated Press

Mohammed bin Nayef al Saud

Deputy Crown Prince from 2015, Minister of the Interior

A son of late Crown Prince Nayef, Prince Mohammed is perhaps the best regarded of Ibn Saud’s grandsons among foreign analysts of the kingdom. King Abdullah named him Interior Minister in November 2012. His deft handling of the al Qaeda bombing campaign from 2003 to 2006 eviscerated the organization inside Saudi Arabia, while his network of spies have foiled repeated attacks by the group’s Yemeni wing. He was born in 1959.

Photo: Saudi Press Agency

Faisal bin Salman

Prince, Madinah Governor

Born in 1970. He was appointed governor of Madinah Province in January 2013.

Photo: Saudi Press Agency

Mohammed bin Salman

Crown Prince

Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, is the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and next in line to become the king. He has been a controversial figure in the kingdom, credited with implementing reforms aimed at modernizing the country and reducing its dependence on oil, but also facing criticism for his handling of political dissent and the war in Yemen. MBS has played a significant role in shaping the future of Saudi Arabia and remains a central figure in the political and economic affairs of the region. Mohammed bin Salman biography

Photo: Associated Press

Sultan bin Salman al Saud

Secretary-General of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities.


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Photo: Associated Press

The New King

Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud

King from 2015, Crown Prince 2012 – 2015, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense

Salman was named as the country’s new crown prince in 2012, succeeding his brother Nayef. He is also one of the seven sons born to Ibn Saud’s favorite wife, Hassa bint Ahmed al-Sudairi. In 1962, he became governor of Riyadh Province and ruled the province until he became defense minister in 2011. Salman has played an increasingly prominent role in Saudi politics in recent years. He is known to favor close political and economic ties with the West. Born in 1935.

The Saudi Arabian monarchy is one of the oldest and most prominent in the world, with a history that dates back to the 18th century. The country is ruled by the Al Saud family, and its members have held the throne for more than eight decades. The current monarch is King Salman, who took over in 2015 after the death of his half-brother, King Abdullah.

The Al Saud family traces its roots back to the central region of the Arabian Peninsula, where its members were part of the tribe known as the Banu Saud. In the late 18th century, a man named Muhammad ibn Saud formed an alliance with a religious leader named Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, which led to the creation of the First Saudi State. This state lasted until the mid-19th century, when it was conquered by the Ottoman Empire.

After the fall of the First Saudi State, the Al Saud family went into exile, but they continued to maintain their influence in the region. In the early 20th century, the family returned to power and founded the modern kingdom of Saudi Arabia. King Abdulaziz Al Saud, also known as Ibn Saud, was the first king of Saudi Arabia and is considered the founder of the kingdom. He ruled from 1932 until his death in 1953.

King Abdulaziz had numerous sons, and it is from this generation of siblings that the current leaders of Saudi Arabia are descended. King Salman is the 25th son of King Abdulaziz. King Salman’s brothers, including the late King Fahd and Crown Prince Sultan, also held prominent positions within the Saudi government. King Salman’s son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is next in line to become the king of Saudi Arabia.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, has been a controversial figure in the kingdom. He has been credited with implementing a series of reforms aimed at modernizing the country and reducing its dependence on oil, including the launch of a new economic plan known as Vision 2030. However, he has also faced criticism for his handling of political dissent and the war in Yemen.

The Al Saud family is one of the wealthiest in the world, and its members are known for their lavish lifestyles and luxurious palaces. Despite this, the family is also known for its philanthropy, with many members of the royal family funding charitable organizations both inside and outside of the kingdom.

In addition to the royal family, there are also several other influential families in Saudi Arabia, including the Al Jilani and Al Shayban families. These families have close ties to the Al Saud family and play an important role in the country’s political and economic affairs.

Overall, the Al Saud family is a central figure in the history and politics of Saudi Arabia. Its members have ruled the country for more than eight decades, and its future leaders, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, are poised to play an important role in the kingdom’s future. Despite its controversies and challenges, the Al Saud family remains a symbol of stability and continuity in the Middle East.