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

Sameera’s whereabouts, the uncle imagined his niece dead, her
body decaying in a heathen land. His hunt for her intensified
without results, until finally, at the insistence of his eldest
son, he relented and employed the services of a private agency to
trace the path of his brother’s only child.
    Early one morning, Sameera’s tyrannical
uncle, roaring with rage, arrived at Tahani’s villa, clutching the
agency’s report. He demanded that my sister, Sameera’s confidante,
reveal the location of his “ungodly niece and her infidel
lover!”
    Eyes wide as she described the scene, Tahani
marveled at his anger. He banged his head against the walls of her
home; he cried to Allah for assistance in slaying his niece; with
fierce denunciations, he promised revenge upon the heathen lover.
He cursed the day his brother’s child was born. He prayed aloud for
God to heap calamities upon his faithless niece. He declared that
she had ruined the honor of the family for generations to come.
    Tahani, overwhelmed by his shouting and
violence, fled from her home to the offices of her husband, Habbib.
When they returned to their palace, Sameera’s uncle had since
departed, but not without a dire warning to the servants that the
one who sheltered his niece would feel his wrath. To soothe
Tahani’s fears, Habbib sought out the uncle and calmed his angry
malice. He assured him that his niece was not in contact with our
family.
    Isolated as she was in another country,
Sameera was unaware that her uncle, in a ceaseless effort to locate
his niece, now confiscated all family members’ mail. By promise of
great punishment should any contact with his niece escape his
attention, he intimidated the family. The girl would eventually
long for contact with those of her blood; when the “one of great
sin”, as he deemed Sameera, weakened, she would not slip past his
vigilant eye. He needed only to wait.
    Meanwhile, in California, Larry grew
uncertain of his love, and Sameera thrashed about as one lost. Her
lover’s new indifference bit deeply into her heart; she called
Tahani in great fear and uncertainty as to her future course. What
should she do? She had few funds and fewer friends in her new land.
Without marriage to Larry, she would not be allowed to remain in
America. Habbib, while allowing Tahani the freedom of her
friendship with Sameera, refused his wife’s request to wire
money.
    With only a few thousand dollars left in her
bank account, Sameera, in an act of desperation, called her dearest
auntie, the youngest sister of her father. The auntie, in dread of
her brother’s power, dutifully reported the call of her niece.
Notified of his niece’s difficulties, the uncle carefully planned
for her capture and return to his influence.
    Sameera was lured to Cairo with the promise
of peaceful reentry into the family she had fled. Money was wired
for her return trip. Sameera telephoned Tahani and tearfully
confided that she had little choice. Larry’s love had dissolved,
and he had no inclination to assist her financially. She had not
yet acquired her degree and could not earn a salary. She had no
money. She had placed telephone calls to the Saudi embassies in
Washington and London. The embassy staffs were unsympathetic. After
she had explained her situation, she was curtly told she would have
to return to her family. Escape from reality was impossible; she
must return to Saudi Arabia.
    Sameera told Tahani she was fearfully hopeful
that her aunties were speaking the truth, for they had given their
oath that their brother had softened and had agreed for her to
continue her educational courses in London. Perhaps, after all, her
uncle would treat the only child of his brother with kindness.
Tahani, certain that the wrath of the uncle had not diminished, was
unable to voice her caution, for she saw clearly the futility of
Sameera’s position.
    Sameera was met at the Cairo airport by two
aunties and two male cousins. They quieted her apprehensions with
talk of her return to London, once she had repaired her isolation
from her family. Happily, Sameera concluded that all would be well.
Sameera returned to Riyadh.
    When Sameera’s expected telephone call did
not come, Tahani fell into the deepest depression. She finally
called Sameera’s relatives, only to be informed that the child had
a small fever and did not feel well enough to speak to her friends.
Tahani was assured that Sameera would contact her the moment her
health