"Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia" - Jean P Sasson 1992

[houri]

Originally Posted by Lady Jennifer

Question? Have any Saudi Princess married into other Middle Eastern Royal Families? I've always been curious abt. that

I heared that members in Sbah family ( the royal family of kuwait ) did married from the saudi royal family , but for realy I am not sure .
by the way I heard on TV that the saudi royal family in particular the king family did married from jordan royal family , I don't think that arabic channel will lie about that but who and when they didn't say it .

[houri]

Originally Posted by Lady Jennifer

Question? Have any Saudi Princess married into other Middle Eastern Royal Families? I've always been curious abt. that

I know that you asking about a princess not a prince but I find this

prince abdalziz bin saud married from Al maktoom family the royal of dubai , no mention for the name of the princess ( his wife )
this pic for him with his older son .

[Lady Jennifer]

Thanks. Awww what a cute little boy.

[La la]

Originally Posted by houri

I know that you asking about a princess not a prince but I find this

prince abdalziz bin saud married from Al maktoom family the royal of dubai , no mention for the name of the princess ( his wife )
this pic for him with his older son .
http://www.assamer.com/photo/picture....gif&show=full

Is he the one who is married to Sheikh Mohammed's sister? .

[houri]

Originally Posted by La la

Is he the one who is married to Sheikh Mohammed's sister? .

yes he is :)

[carlota]

i read the first book, sultana (as it is called in spanish), some years ago and an anecdote that stands in my mind when i think about the book is the one victoria mentioned of one of sultana's sisters or friends who was killed because of having a relation with a man before the wedding, by drowning her in the swimming pool. it's quite an interesting book after all, and appart from these kind of horrid scenes it is quite a good reflection of the lives of the rich and the royals in saudi arabia. it describes how life is for women (as well as men), rituals, what they do in their every day life... it is more than interesting and a must read for anyone interested in middle eastern royalty.

i wonder if what the book tells extends to other families in the middle east, such as kuwait, qatar, jordan or even morocco, as they are also quite large, muslim families...

[cd_1]

hello, for those of you who have read this book, im just curious to know, are there any pictures of Sultana? because i googled this title, and i got to see many covers with pictures of a dark haired woman, is that jean sasson or sultana? ro does anyone know where i can see pictures of the people mentioned ni this book?
many thnaks

[kimebear]

It is my understanding that models were used for the book covers. Sultana (if she even exists) would never have been photographed for the book. I enjoyed reading the trilogy, but you should probably keep in mind that it is widely believed to be a compilation of stories that Jean Sasson heard while in Saudia Arabia and not really the story of one person's life.

[Little_star]

It is?! I have it on good authority that the books are in fact real.

[kimebear]

I have no doubt that the people in the stories are real enough, but it is widely speculated in the literary community that Jean Sasson used the singular "Sultana" as a vehicle to combine all the true stories that she was told during her time in Saudi Arabia into one cohesive tale. "Sultana" could very well be a royal or someone connected to the royals that is sharing this information with Jean Sasson, but the books themselves are too neat of a read to be 100% true as stated. The odds of a princess personally encountering every sort of female shock story in the Arab world as well as having two daughters who are the complete embodiment of such stereotypical extremes are slim.

In Princess Sultana's Daughters, Jean even writes that, when confronted, Sultana convinces her family that she has altered certain facts to keep speculation away from her true identity. I think this was done more to lend additional confusion as to where Jean's sources actually came from. That being said, I don't doubt that the horrors that she writes about are true.

[Little_star]

Is "Princess Sultana's Daughter's" the second or third title in the series, they seem to retail under different names here in the UK?

My uncle worked in Saudi Arabia as a physician for one of the princes and his family, and while he never named them personally he had said that one of the princesses he treated claimed to "know" the identity of Sultana. Whether she was telling the truth or merely making a claim to fame is anybody's guess but apparently quite a few of the royals did believe the books to be one woman's story.

I wasn't aware of the idea that the books are an amalgamation of stories.

[COUNTESS]

Jean Sasson is a respected writer, not a fool or a gossip monger. She has written those books with a purpose and that is to show life from the eyes of a princess of that area. If she says this woman came to her, and wished to show this world, she did a good job. Life for the Saudi Royals is very good. They have the access of the world at their feet. Life for average women might not be so. If you cannot do simple things, like drive or leave your home unescorted, than it is more complicated. So as not to offend anyone, I will leave that there.

[cd_1]

well, sultana mentions in her book that she and her husband are worth $900 million...and that she has 21000 members in her family...so $250 million is believable:)

[Friederike Monika]

Originally Posted by polop

Hi.I watched this special on ABC like 6 months ago on Saudi Royals.First of the show commented upon how there are about 4000 royal members in Saudi Royal family.The family is worth close to 25 billion dollars.One royal member (don't remember his name) was worth close 250 million dollars.They showed his life style and how his family was living, and let me say this, Donald Trump watch your back!:) The family was vacationing in Miami and the princes wife looked like any other female walking down the street.The program also talked about other royal members, and how many of them drink!

They did a segment on this one Saudi princess who went clubbing and so on. Many pictures were also brodcasted, all the princess' resembled Lindsay Lohan!(attire wise.) Almost all of the Saudi Royals visit U.S regularly, for vacations, parties and etc.One of the royal members also came on Opera and talked about her freedom.Another Kawaiti Royal member (also on Opera) said that many of her friends go to France to buy their wedding gowns.

Anyways, the point of all this info was to say that from all that I have heard and seen, Saudi female Royal members have a lot of freedom.I have not read any of the books you guys are talking about, and quite honestly don't plan to. The respected princess who wrote this book and claims that she was abused or neglected as a child sure seems to be very confident now.How come she wasn't scared when she was writting this book, after all she saw what happend to her friends? I assume the Lady is still alive, so how come she wasn't killed, we all know how cruel the Saudi Royal family is. I don't believe these stories are true. Sure maybe one or two, but they probably have been exagerated to sell the book.(someone mentioned this possibility.) I am just voicing my concern and don't mean to offend anyone with what I've said.:)

POLOP, there is no, there never was a princess Sultana from Saudi Arabia who asked Jean Sasson to write her lifestory in the "Princess" trilogy. In a new book "The Phoney Princess" (availiable on Amazon) it tells in great detail how there never was a real life princess involved in writing those hoax books.

[Lee-Z]

Originally Posted by Friederike Monika

POLOP, there is no, there never was a princess Sultana from Saudi Arabia who asked Jean Sasson to write her lifestory in the "Princess" trilogy. In a new book "The Phoney Princess" (availiable on Amazon) it tells in great detail how there never was a real life princess involved in writing those hoax books.

hi Friederike-Monika, given your name....are you by any chance the writer of that book?

[Friederike Monika]

Originally Posted by houri

even if she did wrote under a different name , when saudi authorities want to get her they will do , maybe she is not even from saudi arabia loooool , it is amazing what people can do to make money .

Houri, if you have read any of Jean Sasson's Princess-books and found them to be unrealistic then you ought to read "The Phoney Princess" (availiable on Amazon) which explains in detail by whom with whom and how Jean Sasson's Princess hoax book's were created.

[Friederike Monika]

Originally Posted by madonna23

hi victoria1999... i haven't read the books but maybe you can tell us what was shocking about it??

also --- do you thing the author may have exaggerated in order to sell more books in the West?

Well, I think the most shocking thing about the Princess Sultana books is surely the fact that those books are not true and that they were made up to further stir negative propaganda and of course to make money from unsuspecting western readers who know painfully little when it comes to Middle Eastern history and customs especielly those of close knit royal circles.

[Friederike Monika]

Originally Posted by Lee-Z

hi Friederike-Monika, given your name....are you by any chance the writer of that book?

Yes Lee-Z, I am the writer of "The Phoney Princess"

[cyndistx]

I read those books many years ago and it didn't surprise me. I read a lot of other books about women and Islam after that as well. I was living in Amsterdam at the time and I read quite a bit back then. I think the actions would have surprised me more if I had not been living in Europe. I enjoyed reading them but they are indeed the exception and not the example from what I have read. cheers Cyndi

[Grandduchess24]

I have read the last two and I found it interesting to read about the Saudi royal family and about the sultan's younger sister.