Despite his royal status, his life abruptly ended when he was just a teenager, eager to take on the world. In 2005, this young Saudi prince, studying in London, was involved in a devastating car accident. He fell into an irreversible coma, and twenty years later, the sad death of the so-called 'Sleeping Prince' has been confirmed.
Al-Waleed bin Khaled bin Talal Al Saud passed away this Saturday, at the age of 36, in a medical center in Riyadh, after spending the last two decades unconscious and bedridden in a hospital. His father shared the news on social media, accompanying it with a black-and-white photo of the young prince and a heartfelt message. He wrote with great pain, "With hearts full of faith and deep sadness and sorrow, we mourn our beloved son."
Prince Khaled bin Talal Al Saud also shared a heartfelt prayer for his son: “O tranquil soul, return to your Lord, well-pleased and pleasing to Him, and enter among His righteous servants into His paradise. Indeed, we belong to God, and we shall return to Him. " May Allah have mercy on him," he wrote on his public profile. He also noted that the funeral will take place this Sunday, July 20, at the Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque in the capital city, following the Asr prayer.
At the age of 15, the late prince sustained serious injuries in a car accident while he was attending a military school in the British capital. A As the nephew of billionaire Al Waleed bin Talal, he suffered multiple brain injuries and internal bleeding that left him in a vegetative state. HHe was later transferred from the UK to King Abdulaziz Medical City, Saudi Arabia, where he remained until his passing.
Throughout all these years, the father of the so-called 'Sleeping Prince' never lost hope that his son would one day wake up. HHospital machines, such as ventilators for breathing and feeding tubes for nutrition, kept his vital signs stable. The Muslim royal often shared photos on his public profile that featured his son, as well as family members and visitors praying for his recovery, including during the months of Ramadan.
Unfortunately, Al-Waleed never regained consciousness. From time to time, his father would enthusiastically share videos that showed some of his son's physical reactions, in which he could be seen slightly moving his hands or fingers. However, as experts explain, in a coma, body movements can occur but are usually limited to involuntary reflexes caused by basic brain activity, not conscious responses to external stimuli.