Bandar bin Faisal Al Saud

Bandar bin Faisal Al Saud (1943 – November 2015) was a Saudi Arabian businessman and Royal Saudi Air Force officer. A member of the Saudi royal family, he was one of the children of King Faisal and Iffat Al Thunayan.

Bandar bin Faisal Al Saud
Born1943
Taif
DiedNovember 2015(2015-00-00) (aged 72–73)
Burial
SpouseBasma bint Majid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Issue
  • Princess Hanah
  • Prince Sultan
Names
Bandar bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud
HouseAl Saud
FatherKing Faisal
MotherIffat bint Mohammad Al Thunayan
Alma mater

Early life and education edit

Bandar bin Faisal was born in Taif in 1943[1][2] and raised there.[3] He was one of nine children of King Faisal and Iffat Al Thunayan.[4] His full siblings were Princess Sara, Prince Mohammed, Princess Latifa, Prince Saud, Prince Abdul Rahman, Prince Turki, Princess Luluwah and Princess Haifa.[4][5]

Prince Bandar was a graduate of the Hun School.[2][6] He received a bachelor's degree from Pomona College and also, from Whittier College in California.[6][7] Next he graduated from Royal Air Force College Cranwell in 1967 and RAF Staff College.[1][7][8] He also received a graduate degree from the University of Washington.[2][6]

One of his classmates in Cranwell was Bandar bin Sultan, husband of his sister, Haifa.[8]

Career and activities edit

 
King Faisal, father of Bandar

Following graduation Prince Bandar joined royal air force and began to work as a fighter pilot in the lightning squad.[8] Then he became a lieutenant colonel.[1] He worked at the intelligence unit of the force[1] and also served as the head of the negotiation teams of the force.[9] Later he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general.[10][11] In 2007 he retired from the air force after serving forty years.[3][10] Then he worked as a senior military advisor at the Ministry of Defense and Aviation.[10]

While serving in the air force Prince Bandar also involved in business. In the mid-1980s he founded the Saudi Group, a joint venture with his wife Basma bint Majid and his nephew Prince Saud bin Abdullah.[12]

He was one of the early members of the Saudi National Commission for Wildlife.[3] In 2007 Prince Bandar initiated a project to protect the indigenous wildlife in Saudi Arabia.[3]

Personal life and death edit

Prince Bandar married his cousin Basma bint Majid, a daughter of Prince Majid bin Abdulaziz.[13] He had two children, Prince Sultan[3] and Princess Hanah.[2]

Bandar bin Faisal died in November 2015.[14] He was buried in Riyadh following the afternoon prayer at the Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque.[10][14]

Ancestry edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d "Succession in Saudi Arabia" (PDF). Springer. p. 182. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d Joseph A. Kéchichian (2014). 'Iffat Al Thunayan: an Arabian Queen. Brighton: Sussex Academic Press. p. 80. ISBN 9781845196851.
  3. ^ a b c d e Nicolas Shammas (19 June 2007). "Saudi Arabia's Prince Bandar Loves Wildlife so Much He's Funding his Own Natural Reserve". OfficialBespoke. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  4. ^ a b Rania Suleiman Salama. "الأميرة عفت الثنيان". Arabiyat Magazine (in Arabic). Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  5. ^ Bahgat Korany; Moataz A. Fattah (2010). "Irreconcilable Role Partners?: Saudi Foreign Policy between the Ulema and the US". In Bahgat Korany; Ali E. Hillal Dessouki (eds.). The Foreign Policies of Arab States: The Challenge of Globalization. Cairo; New York: American University in Cairo Press. p. 369. ISBN 978-977-416-360-9.
  6. ^ a b c Katrina Thomas (May–June 1979). "America as Alma Mater". Aramco World. Vol. 30, no. 3. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  7. ^ a b Ayman Al Yassini (August 1982). The Relationship between Religion and State in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (PhD thesis). McGill University. OCLC 896879684.
  8. ^ a b c Gary Samuel Samore (1984). Royal Family Politics in Saudi Arabia (1953-1982) (PhD thesis). Harvard University. pp. 254–255. ProQuest 303295482.
  9. ^ Publitec Publications, ed. (2007). Who's Who in the Arab World 2007-2008 (18th ed.). Beirut: Publitec Publications. p. 717. doi:10.1515/9783110930047. ISBN 9783598077357.
  10. ^ a b c d "The death of Prince Bandar bin Faisal Al Saud". Al Bawaba (in Arabic). 22 November 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  11. ^ "The King offers condolences to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques". Ammon News (in Arabic). 22 November 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  12. ^ Robert T. Moran; Philip R. Harris; William G. Stripp (2012). Developing the Global Organization. London; New York: Routledge. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-136-01609-7.
  13. ^ Danna Lorch (17 December 2017). "The Ten-Minute Read: HRH Princess Basma's Birthday Art of Heritage Initiative". Vogue Arabia. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  14. ^ a b "The Saudi Royal Court mourns Prince Bandar bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud". Ahram Online (in Arabic). 22 December 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2021.