It’s been three years since billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was given the Ġieħ ir-Repubblika honour for his intention to carry out philanthropic work in Malta, but the nature of that planned charity is still in the dark. 

And now President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca has admitted to Lovin Malta she is not aware of any philanthropical work carried out in Malta by the Prince. 

“This Office is not aware of any philantropical work carried out in Malta by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, however as an Office, we are not advised of all philanthropic endeavours happening on the island,” she said when questioned by this website. 

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister did not respond to a similar request for comment. 

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has been arrested as part of a Saudi anti-corruption purge 

Prince Alwaleed’s name cropped up in the international news this week after he was arrested as part of a major anti-corruption purge by Saudi Arabia’s new Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Ten other princes, four sitting ministers and several ex-ministers were also detained as part of the purge. 

Asked whether she will remove his Maltese medal in light of these charges, Coleiro Preca said she is only empowered to do so following a parliamentary resolution. 

Prince Alwaleed has been ranked by Forbes as one of the 50 richest men in the world, owning the major investment firm Kingdom Holding which owns shares in News Corp, Apple, Twitter and the Citigroup bank. He has also carried out philantropic work across the world and was indeed granted the Ġieħ ir-Repubblika honour because of his “keen interest in helping Malta”. 

However, his former employees warned in 2012 that the Prince carries out charity work for the sake of appearance and eventual profit. 

As reported by MaltaToday, the Prince lives a bizarrely exuberant lifestyle – keeping a personal throne on one of his private jets and a group of dancing, joking dwarfs in his entourage. 

At one of his parties in the desert, he reportedly threw $100 notes into a fire and told his dwarf jesters to run into the flames and pull the cash out. 

Do you have more information on the Saudi Prince’s Maltese interests? If so, please e-mail us at [email protected]

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Tim Diacono

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]