Saudi Prince Alwaleed and His Huge Entourage

Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud (known as Al Waleed to his pals)  has issued a barrage of documents to refute media reports about him and a woman in Spain.

The alleged incident was supposed to have taken place in early August of 2008 on a rented yacht. Yet in a detailed release, Al Waleed provides extensive proof that he was nowhere near Spain at the time. He was in France aboard his own yacht and shopping in St. Tropez. He provides testimony from his yacht captain, body guard, passport stamps, hotel records and restaurant receipts to show he was in France at the time.

Yet one of the more trivial but interesting documents in the release is a list of his entourage. Al Waleed provided the list to show just how many members of his posse witnessed his whereabouts at the time. According to the records, Al Waleed travels with an entourage of 26 people. In addition to his wife, the group includes:

1 – A private physician

2 – Assistant manager of his palaces

3 – Private Assistant

4 – Executive Assistant

5 – Personal Affairs Manager

6 – Two Personal Affairs Assistants

7 – Manager of Protocol Department

8 – Manager Travel and External Affairs

9 – Assistant Manager Telecommunications

10 – Private Affairs for the Princess

11 – Princess Beautician

12 – Athletic Trainer

13 – Two private security details, one French security detail and one security detail for the Princess.

14 – Assistant head of the Audio Visual Department

15 – Al Waleed’s Personal Hairdresser

16 – Two guys listed as “companions” (and their names are NOT Drama and Turtle).

His entourage apparently not only gets to follow him on and off his yacht, but they also join him for “communal dinners” (at 4 a.m.) and shopping trips in St. Tropez.

The question is whether Al Waleed’s entourage is the largest in the world. Saudi’s King Abdullah, by definition, probably has a bigger one. But 26 people is a pretty good personal following. The entourage may be one reason Al Waleed needed to buy the largest plane in the world as his private jet.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

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