Think Saudi royalty, think truckloads of money, but that’s not always the case. Take Saudi Prince Fahd bin Sultan Al Saud, for instance. The royal, whose father served as Saudi defense minister from 1962 to 2011, is being sued for not paying his dues to staff. In fact, his British caretaker already sued him and won the case after Prince Fahd’s French representatives failed to pay Mark James’s wages for months. Despite winning a $250,000 legal case in France, the 74-year-old governor of Tabuk Province hasn’t paid James, who managed a three-story mansion at 36 Cours Albert 1er in Paris’ luxurious 8th arrondissement, any money.
Even during his service there, the now resident of Antibes stated the nearly 6,900 sq. ft. property had no hot water because gas bills hadn’t been paid. It was a mess, with the elevators not working, the swimming pool left unused owing to a faulty pump, and so on. It seems the prince’s luck is also down in the dumps. From several multimillion-dollar mansions across Europe to his $65 million Sarafsa luxury yacht, everything was seized, shared the Daily Mail.
In 2023 Credit Suisse auctioned the vessel, and in June 2025, Sarafsa’s silverware was also listed for auction. The luxury vessel boasts six decks with a grand piano lounge, cinema, spa, swimming pool, gym, helipad, garage, and a saloon modeled after the grandest hotels of Monaco. The auctioned 70 lots of silverware, valued at least at $1.3 million when bought, included antique goblets from the personal collection of King Louis XVI of France.
As far as the former owner, Prince Fahd, is concerned, he seems to be in the bad books of many who claim that several people working for the prince in the UK have also not been paid. In addition to James, the property’s butler and maître d’hôtel also took the prince to the industrial tribunal for failing to pay them or provide pay stubs for over a year. Loss of reputation, finery, and a lifestyle, I wonder which one hurts the most?
