Princess: Stepping Out of the Shadows, стр. 52
‘Sweetie, in Great Britain there is no king. The Queen rules the country.’
My granddaughter looked up at me for confirmation of what Sara was saying. ‘Jadda, there is a queen but not a king?’ She paused once more. ‘A woman rules the country?’
‘Well, it is complicated. I will explain more to you later, sweetie. But as far as Saudi Arabia is concerned, your auntie Sara is correct. No, there has never been a queen of Saudi Arabia.’
I hesitated before saying the obvious, since I always felt embarrassment at the backwardness of our men’s fondness to be married to more than one woman at the same time.
‘Sweetheart, you know that in our country some men have more than one wife. Actually, our seven relatives who have ruled as king, including Grandfather Abdul Aziz and uncles Saud, Faisal, Khalid, Fahd, Abdullah and our current king, Salman, have all had more than one wife. Most of these uncles had four wives. A country cannot have more than one queen. Yet one wife cannot be queen if the others are not, as all the wives must be treated equally, according to Islam. So there is no queen.’
‘My head feels confused about this, Jadda.’
‘You will understand one day. And perhaps we shall soon have a king who only has one wife, and that wife will become our first queen!’
‘Now that would be cause for a huge celebration,’ Sara said with a big smile. ‘I thoroughly approve of that!’
‘Indeed, Sara, I agree. What joy it would be for Saudi Arabia to have one woman named as queen.’
Seeing my granddaughter’s sweet little face and bright eyes taking in and absorbing talk that I knew her father would very likely feel was unseemly, I hastily changed the subject. ‘But for now, ladies, let us have a nice ice cream and forget the tangled world of queens and kings.’
Any conversation about the state of marriage today in Saudi Arabia, whether within the royal family or among ordinary members of our society, would have to wait. There would be time enough to discuss this later with Sara and to hear more about the three women occupying our thoughts: Dalal, Sabrina, and her friend, Nona.
For now, the ice-cream parlour beckoned.
* * *
At the end of the day, when the setting sun was casting beautiful hues of gold and pink on Riyadh, by chance a party of female relatives gathered at my palace.
Sara remained, having mentioned that Assad was in Japan with Abdullah, and her youngest child, Sabrina, was visiting with Assad’s nieces in Jeddah. While I relish complete solitude on occasion, Sara does not. I knew that she would be miserable being alone and saw she was visibly pleased when I encouraged her to spend the night at my palace.
Then Amani dropped by unexpectedly to tell me that her family was leaving for Norway in two days. Her husband was meeting with potential business partners from that nation and she wanted to select some jewels from her collection to wear on the trip. Both daughters have their own large safes in our home, filled with the treasures that Kareem has purchased for them since they were infants.
‘Mummy,’ she said, ‘I am thinking of wearing that black pearl necklace and earring set.’ She frowned as she pondered on the many jewels she might choose from and was now trying to remember. ‘And perhaps that really nice ruby ring. The one circled by those shiny clear stones.’
‘Diamonds. Those are diamonds, dear.’ I smiled as I rolled my eyes. ‘You know where the safe is, darling. The keys are in the top drawer of my desk.’
‘Yes, I will get the jewels later,’ Amani said, as she sat down to join us. ‘I am tired, Mummy. I would like some tea and sweets, please.’
‘Of course, sweetheart,’ I said, as I pushed the small button that would alert the kitchen staff.
I was thrilled Amani was interested in wearing some of her jewellery. Rarely had either of my daughters expressed an interest in these items, so meticulously collected for them by their father. I forced my tongue to remain still, although I was excited and eager to know what sort of function would encourage my daughter to bring out her jewels. Kareem would be thrilled as well, for I know he was disappointed that neither of our girls was particularly keen to wear the beautiful necklaces, bracelets and earrings he had selected. Because of that, and their careless attitude towards these precious gifts, he had insisted on keeping the jewels in our home and safely locked away. Truthfully, Kareem also felt anxious that Maha would sell her jewels to finance her charities assisting women refugees, and that Amani would also sell her collections so as to give the proceeds to an Islamic association.
I remembered the evening years before when Kareem had insisted his daughters come to our home, where he very carefully displayed each girl’s collection of expensive jewels. He wanted our daughters to know the extent of the time, thought and care he had given to their individual collections. He told them that night, ‘Daughters, even if you do not appreciate these precious gems, I want you to appreciate the love your father has for you and the time he spent gathering what he believed to be the perfect pieces for each of you. I always considered your colouring, your styles, and your likes and dislikes. Should you ever feel the urge to sell your jewels for one purpose or another, instead come to me and I will give you the funds you need. And even if you do not wear these jewels, I ask that you save them for your own children. I must have your promise on this point.’
Both girls had vowed to their father that they would do as he requested, but Kareem had never felt secure