Life As a Saudi Princess

Q: Tell me about that respect.

A: The thing I feel is really strong in our culture is respect. Especially in the royal family, you really see it a lot. When we are walking, the younger one would never walk in front of the older person. Respect is the thing I pray we will never lose in this family. I am very close to my kids, but there’s that line they don’t cross.

Q: What are the silly things you do together?

A: We do silly things a lot. If we take pictures, we sometimes take silly, stupid pictures. We’ll jump on a trampoline. We’ll do things everybody does, but in a silly way. Last summer we went to Aspen. We all went rafting together, paragliding. We’ll do crazy things with our hair and we’ll start jumping and dancing. People working in my house will say, “Oh my God, our boss is crazy.”

Q: What are some of the most common misconceptions that Americans have regarding Saudi women?

A: People have their own ideas about Saudi Arabia. Especially women. We’re like anywhere else in the world. We have our positives and we have our negatives. What I don’t like is how the press shows you fat Saudi women, women walking ten feet behind their husbands, only the poorest people. It’s very rare they show you the positive. But Saudi women are strong and they’re very powerful, whether they’re working or at home. Some women make more than their husbands. Some women are supporting their families. There is equality of pay. When we’re here in Saudi Arabia, we’re used to the restrictions and we don’t feel like it’s restricting us, like it’s choking us. We always think of change as for the better. I think change has to be taken step by step, so people around you will understand. We have to understand our needs, our grandparents’ needs, our great grandparents’ needs.

Q: What do women around the world share in common?

A: Our needs are all the same. I have friends around the world and most of the time when we talk about things, we talk about respect. Respect for family, respect for the workplace, and respect for the people who are around us. Plus we always work hard as women to prove that we’re strong and capable of doing things that men do. Women all over the world are perfectionists.