Are the Saudis going frugal?

THE Saudi Arabian royal family arrived for their annual visit to a palace in Marbella last week, bringing with them a new — and unwelcome — spirit of frugality.

King Abdullah, the new ruler, stayed away, but 14 princesses were among a party of 1,500 assorted royals and courtiers at the Palacio El Rocio, accompanying the late King Fahd’s widow Jawhara al-Ibrahim and Abdullah’s brother Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz. Economy-class Saudi royals cramp Marbella’s style by Graham Keeley

Mark Alexander