The young royal, who became internationally recognized as the "Sleeping Prince," required continuous mechanical breathing assistance throughout his hospitalization and never achieved complete awareness during his extended medical care. His tragic passing was confirmed through social media by his father, who had maintained hope for his son's recovery throughout the lengthy ordeal.

Prince Khaled bin Talal Al Saud, the deceased royal's father, announced the death through an emotional message on the social platform X. The grieving parent incorporated religious scripture into his statement, drawing from Islamic holy text to express his family's profound loss and acceptance of divine will.

"With hearts believing in Allah's will and decree, and with deep sorrow and sadness, we mourn our beloved son: Prince Al-Waleed bin Khaled bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, may Allah have mercy on him, who passed away today," the father wrote in his tribute message. The statement reflected both the family's religious faith and their devastating grief over losing their eldest child.

The circumstances surrounding the initial accident date back to when Prince Al-Waleed was pursuing his education at a British military institution in London. His academic pursuits were permanently interrupted by the catastrophic crash that would define the remainder of his shortened existence.

Following the traumatic event, medical professionals transferred the critically injured prince to King Abdulaziz Medical City located in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The specialized medical facility became his permanent residence, where he remained in an unconscious state from that point forward until his recent death.

Throughout the extended period of medical care, Prince Al-Waleed's father demonstrated unwavering determination regarding his son's treatment and potential for recovery. The devoted parent maintained optimistic expectations that his child would eventually achieve complete rehabilitation and return to normal life.

The senior royal consistently refused to consider terminating his son's life-sustaining medical interventions despite the prolonged nature of the unconscious condition.

Social media platforms experienced widespread discussion following the official death announcement, with the phrase "Sleeping Prince" becoming a trending topic across multiple networks. Thousands of individuals from around the globe shared messages of sympathy and support for the bereaved royal family.

"May Prince Al-Waleed bin Khalid, Rest In Peace. Deepest sympathies to his loved ones," one social media user expressed in their condolence message. The public response demonstrated international awareness of the prince's prolonged medical struggle and the family's enduring ordeal.

"Your time on earth was a blessing to your family and the world in general," another individual commented on the tragic circumstances. These expressions of sympathy highlighted the widespread compassion felt by observers who had followed the prince's story over the years.

"May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace," a third person contributed to the online memorial discussion. The collective outpouring of support illustrated how the prince's situation had touched people globally, transcending cultural and geographical boundaries.

Religious ceremonies honoring Prince Al-Waleed's life will take place at Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque in Riyadh, according to News.com.au. The funeral prayers represent the final chapter in a story that captured international attention for over two decades.

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He's heir to the throne in one of the oldest monarchies in the Middle East and a claimed descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. She's a Saudi architect with an aristocratic pedigree of her own.

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Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, 28, and Rajwa Alseif, 29, are to be married on Thursday at a palace wedding in Jordan. The families have not said how the couple met or provided any details about their courtship. They were formally engaged at a traditional Muslim ceremony in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, in August 2022 that was attended by senior members of Jordan's royal family. The bride and groom are destined to become a power couple in the Middle East, forging a new bond between Jordan and Saudi Arabia as the latter seeks to transform itself into a regional power broker.

Rajwa Alseif was born in Riyadh on April 28, 1994, the youngest of four children. Her mother, Azza bint Nayef Abdulaziz Ahmad Al Sudairi, is related to Hussa bint Ahmed Al Sudairi, who is said to have been the favorite wife of Saudi Arabia's founder, King Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, and gave birth to seven of his sons, including the country's current ruler, King Salman. For decades, the so-called Sudairi Seven, most of whom are now deceased, were seen as a major locus of power within the Saudi royal family.

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Preparations are underway for newly crowned King Charles of England to become the first British sovereign to visit the Holy Land, British media reported on Sunday.

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"The preparation has been done by his team to pave the way for this visit," said Conservative peer Lord Polak according to the Daily Mail. "There is no doubt that Charles will be the one to break this pattern," he said.

Lord Polak served as director of Conservative Friends of Israel for more than 25 years.

Charles is also likely to visit the Palestinian territories in an effort to avoid causing controversy, the British tabloid reported. He traveled to Israel in a private capacity three times before he took the throne. Prince William made an official trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories in 2018.

Charles's mother, Elizabeth II, never came to Israel during her 70-year reign due to concern it would upset the Arab world.

President Isaac Herzog has been personally involved in lobbying the king to visit, but the threat of Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza was a "stumbling block" to setting a date, the paper reported.

Charles is already set to visit Kenya later this year, the country where his mother was notified she became queen after the death of her father, Charles VI, in 1952.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Britain's royal family stuck to routine and remained silent Friday over the second half of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan's documentary series, which made hard-hitting claims against Harry's brother, Prince William.

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While the first half of the six-part Netflix series concentrated on the couple's bruising encounters with the British media, the final three episodes aimed criticism at the royal "firm" – the family and its staff.

In three hour-long episodes released Thursday, Harry claimed William screamed at him during a family meeting and accused palace officials of lying to protect his elder sibling, who is now heir to the throne. Meghan talked about wanting to end her life as she struggled to cope with toxic press coverage.

Harry, a grandson of the late Queen Elizabeth II, married U.S. actress Meghan Markle in a fairy-tale wedding at Windsor Castle in 2018. Less than two years later the couple left Britain, citing what they saw as the media's racist treatment of Meghan and a lack of support from the palace.

In the documentary Harry, 38, said William lashed out at him during a family summit at Sandringham Castle in January 2020 to talk about the couple's plan to step down as senior royals.

"It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me and my father say things that just simply weren't true. And my grandmother, you know, quietly sit there and take it all in," Harry said.

He also accused royal communications officials of "leaking" and "planting" stories in the media, claiming staff would seek to deflect negative coverage of one royal by issuing a story about another member of the family.

Meghan, 41, revealed she thought about killing herself amid a torrent of negative media coverage before the couple decided to make a break with the royal household.

"It was like 'All of this will stop if I am not here,'" she said.

Harry added that he believed the Mail on Sunday's publication of a letter Meghan wrote her estranged father — over which she successfully sued the paper's publisher — contributed to her having a miscarriage in 2020.

Neither Buckingham Palace, which represents the king, nor William's Kensington Palace office has commented on the series.

There were no dissenting views in the documentary, which included interviews with the couple and supportive friends and commentators.

Royal expert Pauline Maclarnan, author of "Royal Fever: The British Monarchy in Consumer Culture," said the relationship between William and Harry would be "very hard to repair" after the bombshell claims.

"This does seem to be very final," she said.

Hours after the final episodes were released, senior royals put on a show of unity, attending a Christmas charity concert in London on Thursday evening. William, his wife Kate and their two elder children, George and Charlotte, were joined at the Westminster Abbey carol concert by King Charles III, Queen Consort Camilla and other family members.

British newspapers, the focus of much of the couple's ire, were furious about the series. The Daily Mail said in an editorial that "the only saving grace" was that Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September, "was spared seeing this tawdry exercise in self-promotion."

The Sun branded Harry a "traitor," contrasting him with "dutiful" William.

The Times of London urged Meghan and Harry to give up their royal titles, Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

"Harry and Meghan must see the hypocrisy of claiming still to be royal," the newspaper said in an editorial. "They have made clear that they consider themselves to be at war with the institution of monarchy, an institution that they appear to hold in contempt."

The show comes at a crucial moment for the monarchy. The king is trying to show that the institution still has a role to play after the death in September of his mother, whose personal popularity dampened criticism of the crown during her 70-year reign.

While the Netlfix series has soured the couple's relationship with the royal family — perhaps irreparably — Maclarnan said it would likely help the couple forge their new careers as U.S.-based charity campaigners and media personalities.

"I think it will have built their brand quite well," she said. "I think a lot of people will see their perspective more, but particularly (the) younger generation. And I think really that's where they've always aimed anyway."

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A Jordanian court on Thursday upheld the conviction of two former senior officials on sedition and other charges connected to an alleged plot against the kingdom involving the half-brother of King Abdullah II.

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Bassem Awadallah, who has US citizenship and once served as a top aide to the king, and Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, a member of the royal family, were sentenced to 15 years in prison in July by a state security court. They were accused of conspiring with Hamzah, a former crown prince, and of seeking foreign assistance.

They had been swept up in a wave of arrests in April. Prince Hamzah, who was placed under house arrest that month, denied being part of any conspiracy and said he was being targeted for speaking out against corruption. The king later announced that the royal rift had been resolved within the family, and Hamzah was never charged with anything.

Jordan is a close Western ally that hosts hundreds of thousands of refugees and has long been seen as an island of stability in a volatile region. But the rare palace feud exposed deep-rooted economic and social challenges in the country, which borders Israel, the occupied West Bank, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

Awadallah's US-based lawyer, Michael Sullivan, had slammed the initial verdict, saying there had been a "complete lack of due process" and that his client had suffered "inhumane treatment, including beatings and psychological torture." Jordanian prosecutors denied those allegations.

In a statement Thursday, Sullivan called the decision "a dark day for justice."

"This decision to uphold the original, predetermined verdict and outrageous sentence by a secret court in Jordan violates every international standard for justice and human rights and makes a mockery of the rule of law," he said.

He said Awadallah continues to be held in solitary confinement and denied contact with his family. Sullivan, a former federal prosecutor, urged the US government to "continue its investigation" into Awadallah's treatment and to demand the release of the full transcript of the closed trial.

Last month, the US Embassy in Amman expressed concerns about allegations of mistreatment and the denial of family visits.

On Thursday, the Court of Cassation dismissed an appeal field by lawyers for the two men, saying they were convicted in accordance with the law, according to the state-run Petra news agency.

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Jordan's Prince Hamza on Sunday made his first public appearance since he was placed under house arrest last week, attending a ceremony with King Abdullah II in what appeared to be an attempted show of unity on a major Jordanian holiday.

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But it remained unclear whether the king and his popular half-brother had put aside the differences that escalated last week into the most serious public rift in the ruling family in decades.

Hamza joined members of the Jordanian royal family marking the centenary of the establishment of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate that preceded the kingdom. The royal palace released a photo and video with Abdullah, Hamza, Crown Prince Hussein and other dignitaries at the grave of King Talal in Amman, Jordan's capital.

It was the first time that Hamza was seen in public since he was placed under a form of house arrest on April 3 following accusations that he was involved in a "malicious plot" to destabilize the kingdom. In statements leaked to the media, Hamza denied the accusations and accused the country's government of corruption and incompetence.

Abdullah subsequently said authorities had thwarted an attempt at sedition involving his half brother and some 18 suspects, while saying he was angry and in shock. Abdullah also suggested there was continued control over Hamza's movements, saying the prince was "with his family at his palace, under my care."

Authorities have imposed a sweeping gag order on any coverage of the royal dispute in a sign of how sensitive they are to how it is perceived. The gag order and the king's willingness to sanction his own brother also reaffirmed what Jordanians understand as their "red line" — an absolute ban on criticizing the monarch or the royal family.

The appearance by Hamza indicated that he was safe, but it remained unclear whether he had come voluntarily or truly been released from the restrictions on his movement. Hamza, wearing a suit, traditional headdress and blue surgical mask, joined his relatives in prayers but did not comment.

There also has been no sign that authorities have released up to 18 other detainees, including members of one of the powerful tribes on which the monarchy has historically relied.

Even before the palace drama, Jordan was grappling with an economic crisis exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, with one in four people out of work. Longstanding complaints about corruption and misrule have fueled scattered protests in recent months.

At the same time, the region's strategic landscape is shifting as powerful Gulf states pursue closer ties with Israel, potentially undermining Jordan's role in the Middle East peace process.

The United States, along with regional allies, have all rallied behind the king. Jordan has long been seen as a relatively stable western ally in the Middle East in a turbulent region. But the past year of the coronavirus has rocked the country's largely tourism-dependent economy.

Abdullah and Hamza are both sons of King Hussein, who ruled Jordan for nearly a half-century before his death in 1999. Abdullah had appointed Hamza as crown prince upon his succession but stripped him of the title in 2004 and gave his eldest son the title instead.

Jordan has a large Palestinian population, including more than 2 million refugees from past wars with Israel and their descendants. The monarchy has granted most of them full citizenship but has historically viewed them with suspicion. Its main base of support is powerful tribes from east of the Jordan River, who dominate the security forces.

For decades, the monarchy has cultivated close ties with the US and other Western nations, which it has used to press for the creation of a Palestinian state including the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

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Over a year after stepping back from their royal duties, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are opening up about that decision in a highly anticipated interview with Oprah Winfrey.

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Trailers from the primetime special promise revelations about their marriage and time in the royal family, as well as a few other "shocking things," as Oprah put it.

The special is shaping up to be must-see TV. On CBS This Morning, Gayle King shared that Winfrey said it was the "best interview" she has ever done.

For Israeli viewers, the interview with Harry and Meghan will air on yesDocu and STINGTV on Monday, March 8 at 9:30 pm.

According to an official press release, the interview will consist of two sections. First, Oprah will have a one-on-one chat with Meghan, discussing everything from how she stepped into life as a royal to her journeys through marriage and motherhood.

Then, Prince Harry will join. Judging by the trailer, Harry may touch on the connection he feels with his mother, Princess Diana, who also left the royal family after her divorce from Prince Charles.

"I can't imagine what it must have been like for her going through this process by herself all those years ago. It has been unbelievably tough for the two of us, but at least we have each other," he said. Harry added that his biggest concern was "history repeating itself," seemingly referring to his mother's tragic death.

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