Saudi Arabia: Crown prince adopts low profile but is still working the phone

Dramatic suggestions that Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman had gone to ground or been frozen out of the decision-making process by his father King Salman continued on 18 March, with another story in UK daily The Guardian about the apparent rift between the two men. However, such speculation was undermined by the return of MBS to public duties on 19 March when he chaired a meeting of the Council of Economic Affairs and Development (CEDA) at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh.