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Federal Vice President and prime minister and Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum’s status as a player in the global soft power stakes was underlined when a visit to Dubai by Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey was spun as a celebration of the decade since MBR joined the social media platform in June 2009. MBR has more than 9.7m followers (he calls them “participants”) on Twitter; his feed contains 5,659 messages in both English and Arabic, on personal and political themes.

International art dealer Larry Gagosian has filed a claim (Gagosian Gallery versus Pelham Europe) in a New York court against an agent of the ruling Al-Thani family, Pelham Holdings/Pelham Europe, over the ownership of a 1931 Picasso bust. Buste de Femme is on display at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Both Gagosian and Pelham – which bought the bust for Sheikh Jassim Bin Abdelaziz Bin Jassim Al-Thani, husband of Qatar Museums chair Sheikha Mayassa Bint Hamad Al-Thani – claim they bought the artwork from Picasso’s daughter, Maya Widmaier-Picasso.

King Salman joined mourners in performing the funeral prayer for Prince Fahd Bin Mohammed Bin Abdelaziz Al-Saud on 13 February at Imam Turki Bin Abdullah mosque in Riyadh. Prince Fahd was the son of Mohammed, who died in 1988 and was the full brother of King Khalid. Mohammed had at least two wives and several children; one of his daughters, Mishail, was executed for adultery in her early 20s, an event explored in the British film Death of a Princess, which prompted considerable tension between Britain and Saudi Arabia in 1980.

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) was in London on 15 July, where he met British Prime Minister David Cameron. The meeting at No 10 Downing Street was also attended by UAE foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. In a statement afterwards, Downing Street said Cameron and MBZ “welcomed the progress that has been made in developing a broader and deeper strategic partnership between Britain and the UAE since the prime minister’s visit to Abu Dhabi in November 2012”

UAE Vice President, deputy supreme commander of the Armed Forces and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nayhan (MBZ) has been particularly busy. On 18 March, he received US Senator (Republican, Missouri) Roy Blunt at the Qasr Al-Bahr Majlis and, seperately, Bahrain Council of Representatives speaker Fawzia Abdullah Zainal, in a meeting attended by 11 Al-Nahyan sheikhs, including six of MBZ’s brothers. A day earlier, MBZ oversaw signing of a number of agreements with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

Emir Sheikh Hamad: Bulgaria and Belarus, HBJ: Letter from Charles, HBJ: US visit

Emir Sheikh Tamim’s eldest brother, Sheikh Mishaal Bin Hamad Al-Thani, who rarely makes the news, featured in the Australian farming press after buying Charolais cattle at several auctions in November and December. He bought bulls at a market in Capel, and bulls and heifers at the Bardoo and Elgin Park annual sale, where he paid the top price of $10,750 for a bull. Sheikh Mishaal’s agents bought another 40 heifers at a sale in December.

The ‘Red Prince’ Talal Bin Abdelaziz lived in exile for a short period after leading the Free Princes movement during the 1962 ruling family power struggle. He left Saudi Arabia for Cairo in 1962, where he renounced his title and established a ‘national liberation front’.

Second deputy premier and defence minister Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) was in Pakistan in mid-January, following hot on the heels of foreign minister Adel Al-Jubair (who arrived on 7 January for a two-day visit). Riyadh is keen to persuade Islamabad to publicly commit itself to the 34 country anti-terrorism coalition that the kingdom launched in December. Riyadh also wants Pakistan’s support against Tehran.

King Abdullah II of Jordan was received by Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al-Said at Bait Al-Barakah in Muscat on 14 May. Jordan’s Petra News Agency said their talks “underlined the depth of fraternal and historic relations” and dealt with “regional issues and efforts to reach political solutions to the region’s crises to restore security and stability”. The meeting, arranged during the Jordanian king’s “private two-day visit”, was attended by his chief advisor for religious and cultural affairs Prince Ghazi Bin Mohammed and by Diwan of Royal Court minister Sayyid Khalid Bin Hilal Bin Saud Al-Busaidi.

On 21 October, King Abdullah received Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. On the Saudi side, the meetings were attended by Crown Prince Salman, Mecca governor Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, General Intelligence Directorate head Prince Bandar Bin Sultan, interior minister Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef, deputy defence minister Prince Salman Bin Sultan and chief of the crown prince’s court Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. A few days earlier, King Abdullah received Pakistan’s President Mamnoon Hussain at his palace in Jeddah. According to Pakistani media, the king praised the service of Pakistanis working in the kingdom. 


Royals and dignitaries from around the world rubbed shoulders at the final race of the 2014 Formula 1 season, which took place in Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit on 23 November. Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) attended, as did Dubai ruler Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum; numerous Emirati sheikhs were there, including four of MBZ’s full brothers (the so-called Bani Fatima), Hamdan, Hazza, Mansour and Abdullah, and four of his half-brothers, Nahyan, Said, Hamed and Khaled. From beyond the UAE came King Abdullah II of Jordan

Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani has had a busy Ramadan, meeting three heads of state by mid-June. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was in Doha from 16-18 June; his visit overlapped with Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir. The emir held meetings with both presidents. According to Sudanese foreign minister Ibrahim Ghandour, who was in the president’s delegation, Al-Bashir’s visit was a success and the emir has been invited (and accepted) to visit Sudan next month to attend a celebration on completion of the implementation of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur.

Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al-Said on 14 November hosted US Secretary of State John Kerry for a meeting on regional issues and dinner at the Bait Al-Barakah royal palace (see Politics). The meeting was attended by minister responsible for foreign affairs Yousuf Bin Alawi Bin Abdullah, commerce minister Dr Ali Bin Masoud Bin Ali Al-Sunaidi and minister responsible for financial affairs Darwish Bin Ismail Al-Balushi.

It is celebration time for Emir Sheikh Tamim’s full brother Sheikh Joaan. Just days after winning the 92nd Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe – one of the greatest flat races in the world – with his three-year-old filly Treve, he paid a world-record 5m guineas ($8.3m) for a one-year-old filly at the annual Tattersalls bloodstock auction. The yearling filly is a daughter of the 2001 Epsom Derby winner Galileo.