As Arab leaders gather in Saudi Arabia King Salman’s absence looms large | King Salman | The Guardian
Beaming in satisfaction as Arab rulers arrived in Riyadh on Tuesday, Mohammed bin Salman looked like a man in charge. As a succession of planes disgorged heads of state for a regional summit, the Saudi crown prince was there to receive them – standing in for his father at yet another big event.
But as Prince Mohammed ushered leaders of Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain along a purple carpet to a reception hall, the king’s absence loomed large. If the ailing monarch was to reappear in public – a once every five year gathering under his auspices would have been the time and place.
To regional figures, King Salman’s failure to assume his role signalled something more consequential than an heir to the throne being gifted more responsibilities. So significant was the missing monarch that observers in Saudi Arabia say the dynastic shift from father to son has – for all intents and purposes – already taken place.
Over the past 20 months, King Salman has made only one public appearance and has stayed for the duration of the Covid pandemic in the new age city of Neom – the pet project of the man who will one day formally take his throne.
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