Across town the family’s patriarch, King Fahd, lies hospitalized for cataract surgery. This summer, for the first time since he became king in 1982, the ailing 81-year-old has come to stay in Geneva–a place he loved when he was crown prince in the 1970s. His closest brothers have come, too, and an entourage estimated to number at 350 people has been in residence since May. Those who’ve seen Fahd say the monarch, who suffered a debilitating stroke in 1995, is doing reasonably well. (“He recognizes his brothers,” says one courtier.) Yet there’s a sense that the last scene of the last act of the ancient regime is being played out among the carnival rides that have gone up on the Geneva lakefront.
Nor is Fahd the only octogenarian gulf ruler in residence near the waters. Sheik Zayed, the 84-year-old president of the United Arab Emirates, is staying just across the border in France. Because the two reign over much of the world’s oil supply, the unpredictable future of the regimes that will succeed them has economists and politicians worried. A war between the United States and Iraq looms, and nobody is sure whether that new desert storm will simply cleanse the political landscape of Saddam Hussein or set the region aflame.
No such worries in Geneva. The Saudis have clogged the city’s streets with Mercedeses, and delighted the merchants on the elegant Rue du Rhone. The local tourist bureau estimates they are spending $3 million to $4 million a day. A source close to the family puts the figure closer to $10 million. Fahd flew in with two 747s, a Boeing 757 mobile hospital, a Boeing 777, a Falcon 900 and a couple of Gulfstreams. His entourage has taken more than 400 rooms in the city’s five-star hotels. The family rented 600 Mercedes limos. (When Geneva’s store of Mercedeses was exhausted, about 150 cars were imported from Germany.) The Saudi influx is a boon to those who serve the rich–the florists, the hoteliers and, especially, the jewelers. “We’ve waited for something like this for a long time,” says Nouran Benyoussef, manager at Avakian Jewelers in the Noga Hilton, a hotel favored by Fahd’s circle.
Since his stroke, Saudi Arabia has been ruled de facto by Fahd’s half brother, Crown Prince Abdullah. But this uncrowned kingship could be contested by Fahd’s full brothers–the Sudeiris. Of the more than 45 sons born to the House of Saud’s founder, the late King Abdul Aziz, the seven sons of one wife, Hasa al-Sudeiri, have consolidated considerable power. They include Prince Sultan, the Defense minister, Prince Nayef, the Interior minister, and Prince Salman, the governor of Riyadh province. Most analysts believe that the sober, well-respected Abdullah will take over from Fahd. Since September 11, he’s tried, cautiously, to cast himself as a bolder leader–witness his high-profile peace plan for the Middle East. But at 79, he’s no babe in arms. And the next in line to the throne, Prince Sultan, is a mere 78. “In the last 50 years there have been five kings in Saudi Arabia,” notes Simon Henderson, author of “After King Fahd: Succession in Saudi Arabia.” “In the next 10 years, there are likely to be another five, given the age of all of these men.”
Succession struggles aside, future gulf leaders will be faced with fundamental changes if they’re to keep their jobs. Tensions between the royals and their people have grown. Islamists appeal to commoners, students and businessmen who are tired of the financial bloat and perceived moral laxity of the royals. The region is young and longing for change: more jobs, greater freedom of speech, basic rights for women. Notes Richard Murphy, former U.S. under secretary of State for Near East Affairs: “The world is crowding in on them, and this will add to the difficulties of mapping out leadership.”
True, but domestic concerns are for another day, another place. “I think I’m developing diabetes from all this rich food,” says one of Fahd’s staff, pinching a roll of fat at his waist. “It’s a disaster!” Decadent excess? Yes–the curse of new money. It’s not an image the royals will want to perpetuate, but who will tell the king?
