Saudi Arabia: The rise of Prince Miqrin, heir to the heir

Prince Miqrin Bin Abdelaziz was born in Riyadh 1945, and is the youngest surviving son of King Abdelaziz. His mother was a Yemeni called Baraka; historians suggest she was most likely a concubine or a slave girl, an arrangement which enabled Ibn Saud to have partners beyond his four wives. Like King Abdullah, he has no recorded full brothers, something which may have encouraged a closeness long noted between the two. With his elder brothers already deep into government by the time he was grown, Miqrin chose aviation, and attended the Royal Air Force College Cranwell, in the United Kingdom, graduating in 1968 with the rank of Flight Lieutenant.