Saudi Game Of Thrones Clearer With New Royal Order

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This horizontal distribution of power led to the emergence of an institutional fiefdom culture . Each prince in charge of a government department or organization treated it as his personal fief and used it to increase his political influence by cultivating networks of patronage.

This gradually established a power hierarchy within the Saudi royal family. A group of more than 30 half-brothers below the king and crown prince emerged who were considered as future contenders to the Saudi throne based on their seniority, maternal descent and the political importance of the institutional fiefdoms they controlled.

Against this backdrop, the appointment of Prince Fahd as the second deputy prime minister (the crown prince is ordinarily the first deputy) of the Kingdom in 1967 was a significant development. At that time, there was no official position of a deputy crown prince and thus no formal entry into the line of succession.

But Fahd's stature as interior minister, as well as being the eldest among the seven sons Abdul Aziz had with Hussa Bint Ahmed Al Sudairi, cemented his path to the throne. Fahd became king in 1982 after the death of his elder half-brother and reigning king, Khalid.

This dynamic dictated the appointment of successive second deputy prime ministers. They were either part of a strong band of brothers, as was the case with the Sudairi seven , or were supported by the reigning king, influential family groups, or held a key portfolio.

Prince Abdullah, who was appointed second deputy prime minister in 1975, is a case in point. Abdullah, who had been one of Faisal's allies in the coup against Saud, had led the Saudi Arabian National Guard since 1962. He also had maternal links to the powerful Shammar tribe that had, in the past, been a political foe of the Saudi royal family.

Abdullah became king in 2005 after Fahd's death and nine years later appointed another half-brother, Prince Muqrin, as the deputy crown prince, thus initiating a new formal position in the royal line of succession. Like those before him, Muqrin had held an influential position as intelligence chief – though his appointment was primarily due to his proximity to the king.

But when Abdullah died in 2015, this by now decades-old dynamic whereby political positions became an avenue of competition between half-brothers and their respective allies, was completely altered. Salman came to the throne and, within two years, he had removed two successive crown princes and promoted his own son , Mohammed, to the position.

In the intervening years, Salman and his son have managed to erase the political influence of powerful princes and royal factions through administrative changes and an anti-corruption campaign.

All the king's men

In this new system, power has become purely the prerogative of the king and his son. This has transformed the position of the Saudi king from being the first among equals (primus inter pares) to the ultimate sovereign (ultimum imperium).