Chapter Eleven - The Royal Purge

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The Royal Purge

IN 2017, THE Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh stopped accepting guests.
No bookings. No explanations.
The lights stayed on. The doors locked shut.

Inside?
Saudi Arabia’s elite — billionaires, ministers, and princes — being held under armed guard.
Televisions played state propaganda while the guests were interrogated, pressured, and in some cases, allegedly beaten.

The crown prince called it an anti-corruption drive.
The world saw it for what it was:
A purge.

This was Mohammed bin Salman’s moment.
MBS wasn’t just modernizing the Kingdom — he was seizing it.

For decades, power in Saudi Arabia had been a delicate dance.
Sons of Ibn Saud split responsibilities, formed factions, and balanced influence.
It wasn’t democracy — but it was distributed monarchy.
A royal network. A spiderweb of cousins.

MBS walked in with scissors.

He rounded up potential rivals —
Not just enemies, but relatives.
Powerful uncles. Wealthy cousins. Senior clerics. Even the head of the National Guard.

Some were accused of embezzlement.
Others simply… didn’t resist hard enough.

Many were forced to sign over billions in assets in exchange for release.
Some stayed imprisoned. Some went quiet.
A few simply disappeared.

This wasn’t justice. It was consolidation.
The crown prince didn’t want shared power.
He wanted a throne with no shadows.

And it didn’t stop at the Ritz.

Later that year, Jamal Khashoggi — a Saudi journalist critical of MBS — walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

He never walked out.

He was murdered, dismembered, and disposed of by a hit team with close ties to the royal court.
Turkish intelligence recorded everything.
Western governments knew.

The Kingdom denied it.
Then lied about it.
Then admitted it.
Then moved on.

So did the world.

Despite international outrage, the arms sales continued.
The investment conferences resumed.
And MBS tightened his grip even further.

By now, there is no meaningful opposition in the Kingdom.
No senior rivals. No dissenting royals.
No public checks. No private threats.

Only one man in charge.
Young. Rich. Brilliant. Dangerous.
The reformer-tyrant of the desert.

And behind him?
An entire country too scared to speak.