GettyThe King of Saudi Arabia, whose country’s subjects earn on average, $33k (£25k) a year, just dropped $100million on a month-long holiday.
King Salman took a little break from his royal duties last month and popped to Tangier for some TLC, which is estimated to have set him back a princely nine-figure sum.
The King stayed in his own 74-acre seaside summer palace in the north of Morocco, complete with three helipads, restaurant-grade kitchens and surrounded by 1,500 metres of wall – to save money on accommodation, presumably.
PANo tightening of those lengthy purse strings for the King’s 1,000-strong entourage, though. They all stayed in luxury hotels and drove around in a fleet of 200 cars.
Which you would want for a month away. In March, he took over 500 tons over luggage for a nine-day trip to Indonesia.
The Saudi King kicked back with the King of Morocco Mohammed VI, after he was met by by Moroccan Prime Minister Saadeddine Othmani upon arrival at Ibn Battouta Airport.
GettyAccording to reports in Morocco and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, King Salman’s trip accounts for 1.5 per cent of the country’s foreign tourism revenue.
King Salman, who is now 81 years old, recently had the Twitter treatment, on a state visit from President Donald Trump.
A poorly-lit press photo combined with questionable politics caused the Internet to react accordingly:
oh you know, a bunch of plutocrats in a darkened room putting their hands on a glowing orb in a totally non-illuminati kind of way pic.twitter.com/Q2Ue2FBi6l
— a time to shrill (@theshrillest) May 21, 2017
"find…the…hobbit…" pic.twitter.com/8saqDbl5Nh
— darth:™ (@darth) May 21, 2017
tfw you and your friends unearth an ancient alien hell orb and combine your powers inside it to stop superman >>>>> pic.twitter.com/kzsYEKC4R0
— jon hendren (@fart) May 21, 2017
A lot of people say the Orb is evil. Stupid! I will negotiate with the Orb, make it work for us. Good deal for everyone!!! Hail the Orb. pic.twitter.com/vmN12iTulB
— Matt Roller (@rolldiggity) May 21, 2017
The Saudi King opted to take his recent summer vacation at a time of high tension in the Gulf. Saudi Arabia’s political feud with Qatar has served to sever transport links to the capital, Doha, since June.
At least he’s well rested to tackle this political upheaval head-on now. Maybe next time it’s Mar-a-Lago.
It’s what the Orb would want…
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.