Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia

suffers.
    As I learn more about the status of women
worldwide, I have made the surprising discovery that women the
world over are ill-treated by men. Some young girls from Laos and
Cambodia and Thailand are forced into the sex slave trade. Female
babies in China can be left on hillsides to starve. Midwives in
India sometimes are paid to snap the spines of infant females,
because the family only wants sons. Even American women can be
murdered by jealous boyfriends or husbands.
    I am often sorry that I know such things, for
this knowledge makes me ill with grief.
    I know that this is what we must do:
    We must all work together to bring change to
this earth.
    We must persist until every female child is
welcomed as joyously as a male child.
    We must devote out time and energy to educate
all our children, females as well as males.
    We must support all women in their endeavors
to help others. When you harm a woman, you harm the whole
world.
    I pray for Allah’s good blessings upon this
quest.
    Princess Sultana Al-Saud
    Updated in November 2010
     
    ***
    Facts on Saudi Arabia
    OFFICIAL TITLE: Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia
    AREA: 864,866 sq. miles
    INDEPENDENCE: 23 September 1932
(unification)
    CLIMATE: Harsh, dry desert with great
extremes of temperature
    POPULATION ESTIMATE: 28,686,633
(including 5,576,076 non-nationals workers)
    GOVERNMENT TYPE: Absolute Monarchy (Al
Sa’ud family)
    POLITICAL PARTIES AND LEADERS: None
allowed
    CONSTITUTION: Governed according to
Shari’a (Islamic Law)
    LEGAL SYSTEM: Based on Islamic law,
although several secular codes have been introduced. Commercial
disputes are handled by special committees.
    RELIGION: Muslim 100% (Does not allow
other religions to be practiced)
    LANGUAGE: Arabic (English often used
in business transactions)
    LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH: male: 66.11
years; female: 69.51 years
    CURRENCY: 1 Saudi Riyal (SR) = 100
halalah
    EXCHANGE RATES: Saudi Riyals (SR) per
US $1–3.7450 (fixed rate since June 1986)
    ECONOMY: Oil based economy with strong
government controls over major economic activities. Saudi Arabia
has the largest reserves of petroleum in the world. The country
ranks as the largest exporter of petroleum, and plays a leading
role in OPEC.
    ***
    BOOKS BY Jean Sasson
    --
    Non-Fiction:
    The Rape of Kuwait
    Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the
Veil in Saudi Arabia
    Princess Sultana’s Daughters
    Princess Sultana’s Circle
    Mayada, Daughter of Iraq
    Love in a Torn Land: A Kurdish Woman’s
Story
    Growing up Bin Laden: Osama’s Wife and Son
Reveal their Secret World
    For the Love of a Son: One Afghan Woman’s
Quest for her Stolen Child
    --
    Historical Fiction:
    Ester’s Child
    --
    To learn more about author Jean Sasson and
the subjects of her books, log on to: www.jeansasson.com
     
    ***
    The story of Princess Sultana is true. While the
words are those of the author, the story is that of the Princess.
The shocking human tragedies described here are factual.
    Readers should know that names have been
changed and various events slightly altered to protect the
well-being of recognizable individuals.
    In telling this true story, it is not the
intention of the author or of the Princess to demean the Islamic
religion.
     

Introduction
    In a land where kings still rule, I am a
princess. You must know me only as Sultana. I cannot reveal my true
name for fear harm will come to me and my family for what I am
about to tell you. I am a Saudi princess, a member of the Royal
Family of the House of Al Sa’ud, the current rulers of the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia. As a woman in a land ruled by men, I cannot speak
directly to you. I have requested an American friend and writer,
Jean Sasson, to listen to me and then to tell my story. I was born
free, yet today I am in chains. Invisible, they were loosely draped
and passed unnoticed until the age of understanding reduced my life
to a narrow segment of fear. No memories are left to me of my first
four years. I suppose I laughed and played as all young children
do, blissfully unaware that my value, due to the absence of a male
organ, was of no significance in the land of my birth.
    To understand my life, you must know those
who came before me. We present-day Al Sa’uds date back six
generations to the days of the early emirs of the Nadj, the bedouin
lands now part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. These first Al
Sa’uds were men whose dreams carried them no farther than the
conquest of nearby desert lands and the adventures of night raids
on