Princess Sultana's Circle

a bottle of
alcohol.
    In the Al Sa’ud family I am
not alone in this sin. Alcohol has taken a shocking toll on the
lives of many of my royal cousins. To speak truthfully, I must say
if these cousins are not buying or selling alcohol, they are
drinking it. And, they do this, regardless of both religious taboo
and the law. What would our mother think?
    Everyone who resides in the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is fully aware that it is illegal to
consume alcohol. It’s common knowledge that every year there are a
large number of Saudis as well as foreigners imprisoned for the
offense of possessing or consuming alcohol. It is also well-known
that such laws do not apply to members of the Al
    Sa’ud family. But, while
the male members of the royal family remain unpunished for any
crime they might commit, it’s a different matter when it comes to
Al Sa’ud females. While we are saved from public condemnation for
our missteps because of the embarrassment such an admission would
cause our rulers, female members of my family are forced to pay a
high penalty should they develop any kind of addiction.
    Returning to bed, I tried
to count on my fingers all the female royal cousins who had become
addicted to alcohol or to drugs, but I ran out of fingers. Within
the past few years the problem has become so rampant that special
clinics for substance abuse have begun opening within the Kingdom.
No longer is it necessary for Al Sa’ud men to send their alcohol or
drug-addicted wives abroad for rehabilitation.
    Only a few months before, I
had visited a cousin committed to one of these clinics. The
atmosphere there was one of wealth and privilege. Soft steps and
hushed voices told the visitor that they were in a medical facility
like no other. The doctors and nurses were foreign, as were all the
other staff. To ensure that they were never alone, each patient was
assigned five personal nurses, all women who had grown accustomed
to working with over-pampered royal Princesses.
    I had found my cousin in a
large three-room suite where the luxuries of her normal life were
duplicated. Special chefs created the finest food, which was served
on costly china. My cousin continued to dress in expensive designer
gowns while entertaining her closest friends and relatives in the
clinic suites. The only accessories lacking in this new setting
were alcohol and drugs.
    Although her treatment
consisted of many sessions with qualified physicians, she was not
subjected to the humiliation—or the benefit—of group therapy, as
are addicts in Western countries.
    The cost for this special
treatment at that clinic was over SR 100,000 ($26,000) per week. My
cousin remained in the facility for sixteen weeks, and was
pronounced cured of her habit. Unfortunately, within a few months
of being discharged, she once again resumed her addiction to
alcohol. At last count, I hear this cousin has been treated at her
special clinic on at least five occasions.
    Yet, once admitted for such
treatment, whether cured or not, nothing is ever the same again for
the unfortunate Saudi wife. Servants gossip to other servants, and
the truth always escapes. The addicted Princess is looked upon with
great pity by her female cousins, but her husband will usually
reject her, possibly take a second wife, or even seek divorce. As
every Saudi woman knows, divorce brings the loss of everything—her
status and her children. A divorced woman soon becomes socially
isolated and ostracized.
    Recently, Hazrat Al Sa’ud,
another royal cousin afflicted with alcoholism, had been divorced
by her husband. Her five young children, who now lived with their
father and his other two wives, had been forbidden all contact with
Hazrat. Her own blood family had renounced her as well, and she now
lived under the supervision of an elderly, blind aunt and two
Filipino servants. Yet the attraction to alcohol was so strong that
Hazrat still took reckless chances at every opportunity in order to
acquire the drink that had brought about her ruin.
    Only a week before, my
eldest sister Nura had been told that Hazrat had caused an
explosion when trying to concoct homemade wine out of grape juice,
sugar, and yeast. Nura said that Hazrat’s elderly aunt swore the
explosion was so loud that she thought the Iraqis were bombing
Riyadh. She took cover under a bed and remained there until she
heard Hazrat wailing and weeping over the lost liquor. There was no
denying that Hazrat’s life was utterly ruined by the very