Oct 10
7
Homosexual Saudi prince admits to killing
The Daily Telegraph – October 6, 2010
‘Gay Saudi prince murdered manservant’
By Caroline Gammell
A grandson of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia strangled his manservant at a top London hotel, in an assault with sexual overtones, a court heard yesterday.
Prince Saud Bin Abdulaziz Bin Nasir Al Saud had a longstanding abusive relationship with Bandar Abdulaziz which culminated in the servant’s death in February, it was claimed. Details of their allegedly tempestuous emotional and sexual relationship were disclosed on the first day of the royal murder trial at the Old Bailey.
Footage of the prince apparently raining punches and kicks on Mr Abdulaziz in a lift at the five-star Landmark Hotel in Marylebone was shown to the court. Three weeks after that incident, the servant’s battered, lifeless body was found in the prince’s bed.
Jonathan Laidlaw QC, prosecuting, said Prince Saud had “sought to lie and to mislead” to cover up his crime. He initially claimed his servant had been mugged, but before the start of the trial he admitted killing the man, although he denies murder.
Mr Laidlaw said the 34-year-old prince had denied being a homosexual to hide the “abusive undertone” of their relationship. But he had been visited by homosexual escorts, and had compromising photographs of his servant and the 2009 Spartacus International Gay Guide in his room.
“The bare fact of his sexuality would ordinarily be of absolutely no relevance to a criminal trial but in this case it is clear that the defendant’s abuse of Bandar was not con-fined simply to physical beatings,” Mr Laidlaw said. “The defendant’s concealing of the sexual aspect to his abuse of the victim was for altogether more sinister reasons and does tend to suggest that there was a sexual element to the circumstances of the killing.”
Mr Abdulaziz was an orphan who was adopted into a middle-class family before joining the royal family as an aide, the seven women and five men of the jury heard. Prince Saud would fly in business class when the pair travelled, while Mr Abulaziz went in economy. When the prince booked his room at the Landmark, he ordered a double bed while Mr Abdulaziz was believed to have slept regularly on the floor, the court heard. The pair spent their time in London shopping, eating in leading restaurants and drinking at nightclubs, including China White.
During their stay at the Landmark, Prince Saud used two gay massage and escort services and was seen on one occasion with a man dressed only in his underwear, the court heard. “When the waiter delivered champagne to the room, there was a male of European appearance with the defend-ant,” Mr Laidlaw said. “That man was dressed only in bright coloured boxer shorts.”
See a version of this article here.