View source for Saud of Saudi Arabia

{{Short description|King of Saudi Arabia from 1953 to 1964}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{about||the university named after King Saud|King Saud University}}
{{Family name hatnote|lang=Arabic|[[Al Saud]]}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty
| consort      = yes
| name         = Saud
| image        = Saud IV of Saudi Arabia portrait.jpg
| caption      = Official portrait, 1960
| alt          = King Saud in 1960
| full name    = Saud bin Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud
| succession   = [[King of Saudi Arabia]]
| reign        = 9 November 1953&nbsp;– {{nowrap|2 November 1964}}
| reign-type   = Reign
| coronation   = 9 November 1953
| cor-type     = [[Bay'ah]]
| predecessor  = [[Ibn Saud|Abdulaziz]]
| successor    = [[Faisal of Saudi Arabia|Faisal]]
| regent       = {{ubl|Crown Prince Faisal |(March–November 1964)}}
| succession1  = [[Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia]]
| reign1       = 9 October 1953&nbsp;– {{nowrap|16 August 1954}}
| successor1   = Faisal
| reign2       = 21 December 1960&nbsp;– {{nowrap|31 October 1962}}
| predecessor2 = Faisal
| successor2   = Faisal
| succession3  = [[Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia]]
| reign3       = 11 May 1933&nbsp;– {{nowrap|9 November 1953}}
{{labeldata|Monarch|Abdulaziz}}
| successor3   = Faisal
| succession4  = [[Viceroy of Nejd]]
| reign4       = 8 January 1926&nbsp;– {{nowrap|22 September 1932}}
{{labeldata|Monarch|Abdulaziz}}
| issue        = {{Collapsible list|state=collapsed
|[[Fahd bin Saud Al Saud|Prince Fahd]]
|[[Saad bin Saud Al Saud|Prince Saad]]
|[[Khalid bin Saud Al Saud|Prince Khalid]]
|[[Bandar bin Saud Al Saud|Prince Bandar]]
|[[Muhammed bin Saud Al Saud|Prince Muhammed]] 
|[[Badr bin Saud Al Saud|Prince Badr]]
|[[Mishaal bin Saud Al Saud|Prince Mishaal]]
|[[Mansour bin Saud Al Saud|Prince Mansour]]
|[[Abdul Rahman bin Saud Al Saud|Prince Abdul Rahman]]
|[[Fahda bint Saud Al Saud|Princess Fahda]]
|[[Dalal bint Saud Al Saud|Princess Dalal]]
|[[Mishari bin Saud Al Saud|Prince Mishari]]
|[[Mashour bin Saud Al Saud|Prince Mashour]]
|[[Hussam bin Saud Al Saud|Prince Hussam]]
|[[Sultan bin Saud Al Saud|Prince Sultan]]
|[[Basmah bint Saud Al Saud|Princess Basmah]] }}
| issue-link   = Saud of Saudi Arabia#Personal life
| issue-pipe   = Among others
| house        = [[Al Saud]]
| father       = [[Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia]]
| mother       = [[Wadha bint Muhammad Al Orair]]
| birth_date   = {{birth date|1902|01|15|df=yes}}
| birth_place  = [[Kuwait City]], [[Sheikhdom of Kuwait]]
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1969|02|23|1902|01|15|df=yes}}
| death_place  = [[Athens]], [[Kingdom of Greece]]
| burial_date  = 
| burial_place = [[Al-Oud cemetery]]
}}
'''Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud''' ({{langx|ar|سعود بن عبد العزيز آل سعود}}; 15 January 1902&nbsp;– 23 February 1969) was [[King of Saudi Arabia]] from 9 November 1953 until his abdication on 2 November 1964. During his reign, he served as [[Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia]] from 1953 to 1954 and from 1960 to 1962. Prior to his accession, Saud was [[Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia]] from 11 May 1933 to 9 November 1953. He was the second son of [[King Abdulaziz]], the founder of Saudi Arabia.

Saud was the second son of King Abdulaziz and [[Wadha bint Muhammad Al Orair]]. The death of Saud's elder brother, [[Turki I bin Abdulaziz Al Saud|Prince Turki]], in 1919 poised Saud to become his father's successor; King Abdulaziz appointed him as the crown prince of Saudi Arabia in 1933. Saud served as a commander in Abdulaziz's conquests that led to the establishment of Saudi Arabia in 1932. He was the [[viceroy of Nejd]] from 1926 to 1932, and he also represented his father in neighboring countries. He played a role in the financial reforms of Saudi Arabia, preparing the first state budget in 1948 and establishing the [[Saudi Central Bank]] in 1952. Saud also oversaw the country's infrastructural development.

Upon his father's death in 1953, Saud ascended the throne and reorganized the government. He founded the convention that the king of Saudi Arabia presides over the [[Council of Ministers of Saudi Arabia|Council of Ministers]]. Saud sought to maintain friendly relations with the United States, whilst also supporting other [[Arab countries]] in their conflicts against Israel. Under his reign, Saudi Arabia joined the [[Non-Aligned Movement]] in 1961. However, Saud's inability to counter the Saudi national debt brought him into a power struggle with his half-brother and crown prince, [[Faisal of Saudi Arabia|Faisal]], culminating in the forced abdication of Saud and the proclamation of Faisal as king. Saud went into exile and made an unsuccessful attempt, supported by some of his sons, to take back the throne. He died in Athens, Greece, in 1969.

==Early life and education==
[[File:Ibn Saud.png|thumb|[[King Abdulaziz]], founder of Saudi Arabia and father of Saud]]
Prince Saud was born on 15 January 1902 in [[Kuwait City]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Chronological events of the history of King Saud
|url=http://www.kingsaud.net/at/pdf.php?a=1120|work=King Saud|access-date=2 June 2012|archive-date=21 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021072020/http://www.kingsaud.net/at/pdf.php?a=1120|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Riyadh. The capital of monotheism|journal=Business and Finance Group|url=http://www.bfg-global.com/pdfnw/pdf/eng/1-ensalman.pdf|archive-date=14 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091014223725/http://www.bfg-global.com/pdfnw/pdf/eng/1-ensalman.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> The second son of Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman,<ref>{{cite journal|author=Nabil Mouline|title=Power and generational transition in Saudi Arabia|journal=Critique Internationale|date=April–June 2012|volume=46|pages=1–22|doi=10.3917/crii.046.0125}}</ref> he was born in the home of his grandfather [[Abdul Rahman bin Faisal]]. They lived in Sikkat Inazza district of the city <!-- Also transliterated as "Sakkat Anaza" --> where the family was staying after their exile from Riyadh.<ref>{{cite web|title=King Saud looking the Spanish Oil Refineries|publisher=IMS|access-date=28 January 2021|url=https://imsvintagephotos.com/kingsaudlookingthespanishoilrefineries525776|archive-date=3 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203052041/https://imsvintagephotos.com/kingsaudlookingthespanishoilrefineries525776|url-status=dead}}</ref> When his father conquered Riyadh in 1902, Saud followed him with his mother and brothers.

Prince Saud's full siblings were Prince Turki, Prince Khalid, Prince Abdullah and Princess Mounira.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=12 July 2016
|url=http://www.kingsaud.org/history/article/munira-bint-abdul-aziz-maternal-sister-of-king-saud/208|title=Mounira bint Abdulaziz (Maternal Sister of King Saud)}}</ref> Of them Khalid and Abdullah died young.<ref name=infsource/> Their mother was Abdulaziz's second wife, Wadha bint Muhammad Al Orair,<ref name=infsource>{{cite web|url=http://www.kingsaud.org/history/article/king-sauds-maternal-ancestry/207|title=King Saud's Maternal ancestry|publisher=Information Source|access-date=3 April 2013}}</ref> who was from the [[Bani Khalid]] tribe.<ref>{{cite web
|publisher=King Saud Library|url=https://thekingsaudlibrary.org/en/history/history-king-saud/son/2657/|title=Princess Wadha Al Ureier King Saud's Mother|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210616101547/https://thekingsaudlibrary.org/en/history/history-king-saud/son/2657/|access-date=16 June 2021|archive-date=16 June 2021}}</ref> 

From the age of five, Prince Saud studied [[Sharia]] and the [[Quran]] under Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Mufaireej. He also learned [[archery]] and horse-riding amongst other things under the supervision of his father, as well as tribal lineages, and how to conduct peace agreements, and the art of wars, politics, diplomacy, and administration in the traditional Arabian ways. His formal tutors were his father's advisors, [[Abdullah Al Damluji]] and [[Hafiz Wahba]].<ref name=qdl>{{cite web |title=File 11/44 Leading Personalities in Iraq, Iran & Saudi Arabia|date=13 January 1948 |url=https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100061134244.0x00004d|publisher=[[Qatar Digital Library]]|access-date=18 August 2023|quote=Citing from the British India Office Records and Private Papers}}</ref>

==Early career==
Saud accompanied his father on his many expeditions and, participated in several campaigns during the unification of the [[Arabian Peninsula]]. His first political mission was at the age of thirteen, leading a delegation to Qatar. The first battle he fought was at [[Battle of Jarrab|Jarrab]] in 1915, followed by one at Yatab in the same year, then Trubah in 1919.<ref>{{cite web|archive-date=2 March 2016|title= The Battle of Yatab in 1918|url=http://www.kingsaud.org/history/article/the-battle-of-yatab-in-1918/222|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160302191549/http://www.kingsaud.org/history/article/the-battle-of-yatab-in-1918/222|website=kingsaud.org}}</ref> In 1925, he stopped the Almahmal crisis in [[Mecca]]. During his tenure as viceroy of Najd Prince Saud criticized his father due to the limitations on the Ikhwan through the newspaper ''[[Umm Al-Qura (newspaper)|Umm Al Qura]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|author=C. C. Lewis|title=Ibn Sa'ūd and the Future of Arabia|journal=[[International Affairs (journal)|International Affairs]]|date=July 1933|volume=12|issue=4|page=523
|doi=10.2307/2603605|jstor=2603605}}</ref> However, he later fought to stop the Ikhwan revolt at the [[battle of Sabilla]] in 1929.<ref>[http://kingsaud.org/history/the-warrior The Warrior]{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215143523/http://kingsaud.org/history/the-warrior|date=15 February 2016}} - The King Saud Foundation Website</ref>

On 11 May 1933, Saud was appointed [[Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia|Crown Prince]] which was announced in ''Umm Al Qura'' newspaper.<ref name=abb>{{cite thesis|author=Alexander Blay Bligh|title=Succession to the throne in Saudi Arabia. Court Politics in the Twentieth Century
|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/303101806|location=Columbia University|pages=68,72|degree=PhD|year=1981|id={{ProQuest|303101806}}}}</ref> His uncle [[Muhammad bin Abdul Rahman]] did not pledge his allegiance to Saud as crown prince and before the gathering he left Riyadh for Mecca.<ref name=abb/> Upon his appointment as crown prince, Abdulaziz told his son that he should be devoted to spreading Islam, take good care of his subjects, and pay attention to the advice of religious scholars. Saud then promised his father that he would listen to his father's advice.<ref>[http://www.kingsaud.org/history/article/upbringing-education-1902-1915/213 Upbringing and Education 1902-1915] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012050812/http://www.kingsaud.org/history/article/upbringing-education-1902-1915/213|date=12 October 2017}} - The King Saud Foundation Website</ref>

In 1934, King Abdulaziz sent two military expeditions; one of them was led by Crown Prince Saud, who regained Najran and advanced secretly through the rugged mountains in the northwest part of Yemen.<ref>[http://www.kingsaud.org/history/article/the-war-with-yemen/1336 The War with Yemen] The King Saud Foundation Website
{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215142235/http://www.kingsaud.org/history/article/the-war-with-yemen/1336|date=15 February 2016}}</ref>

On 15 March 1935, three armed men from Oman attacked and tried to assassinate King Abdulaziz in Mecca during his performance of Hajj.<ref>{{cite thesis |author=Jerald L. Thompson |title=H. St. John Philby, Ibn Saud and Palestine |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA111290 |degree=MA |location=University of Kansas |date=December 1981}}</ref><ref name=amin>{{cite web|author=Amin K. Tokumasu|title=Cultural Relations between Saudi Arabia and Japan from the Time of King Abdulaziz to the Time of King Fahd |url=http://www.darah.info/bohos/Data/15/13.htm |work=Darah |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130708081440/http://darah.info/bohos/Data/15/13.htm |archive-date=8 July 2013 |access-date=2 January 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=richard/> He survived the attack unhurt, through the intervention of the crown prince, who suffered a knife wound in the attack; the three attackers were killed by bodyguards.<ref name=amin/><ref name=richard>{{cite news|first=Richard |last=Halliburton |authorlink=Richard Halliburton |title=Ibn Saud, King of Arabia, Goes out from Mecca to Grant an Interview |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-kansas-city-star-ibn-saud-king-of-a/177981176/ |access-date=1 August 2025 |newspaper=[[The Kansas City Star]] |page=16 |date=24 June 1935 |via=newspapers.com |quote=Two of the assassins, in the shadow of the Kaaba, were hacked to pieces; and the third, breaking free...was overtaken and struck down.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45334930 |journal=Current History |title=Arab King Escapes Assassins |volume=42 |number=2 |date=May 1935 |pages=218–220 |first=Robert L. |last=Baker |doi=10.1525/curh.1935.42.2.218 |jstor=45334930 |accessdate=August 1, 2025 |via=[[JSTOR]] |quote=While the Emir Suad grappled with the leader the King's alert bodyguard killed the would-be regicides.}}</ref>

[[File:1935 HRH Prince Saud being received by Snouck Hurgronje (right) at Leiden University 0.jpg|thumb|Crown Prince Saud being received by [[Snouck Hurgronje]] (right) at [[Leiden University]], 1935]]
[[File:Saud of Saudi Arabia.jpg|thumb|Crown Prince Saud, 1952]]
[[File:King Abdulaziz with Prince Faisal and Prince Saud.jpg|thumb|right|With his father King Abdulaziz (seated) and half-brother Prince Faisal (later king, left), early 1950s]]

{{unreferenced section|date=August 2021}}
Following the end of the war with Yemen, Abdulaziz decided to encourage Saud to travel abroad. Accompanied by his father's adviser [[Fuad Hamza]] and physician Dr. Medhat Sheikh el-Ard and some others, he visited: [[Emirate of Transjordan|Transjordan]], [[Mandatory Palestine|Palestine]], Iraq, Egypt and Europe where he represented his father at the [[coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth]] in 1937. Saud struck a warm friendship with the young King [[Ghazi of Iraq]], and earned plaudits from the Amir of Transjordan (later King [[Abdullah I of Jordan]]), who said to him: "in his character, he represented the choicest and purest of the traits and attributes of the Arabian Peninsula." When a crisis erupted between the neighboring Bahrain and Qatar, Saud visited the former in December 1937 in order to help sort out their differences. This was followed by other visits to the until the eve of the [[Second World War]].

After the war, when the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine appeared to be imminent, and leaders of the various Arab States met at [[Inshas]] in Egypt during 1946 in order to review the situation under the Chairmanship of King [[Farouk of Egypt]], Saud was again selected by his father to represent him and his country, and participated in the adoption of the famous resolution that declared that: "The Palestinian cause is the cause of all Arabs and not merely the Palestinians". In 1947, Saud visited the United States and met with President [[Harry S. Truman]], and also met with leaders in Britain, France, and Italy, in order to acquaint the policymakers with his father's views and the unacceptability of the infringement of the rights of the Palestinians.
[[File:Arab_Leaders_during_the_Anshas_conference_(cropped).jpg|alt=Arab_Leaders_during_the_Anshas_conference_(cropped)|thumb|During the [[Inshas]] Conference. From right to left: [[Abdullah I of Jordan]], [[Farouk of Egypt]], Syrian President [[Shukri al-Quwatli]], Emir [[Abd al-Ilah]] of Iraq, and Crown Prince Saud, 1946]]
Following Saud's visits, he concentrated on the first areas to be deemed in sore need of modernization and reform in view of increasing revenues and expenditures, these were the governance and handling the country's finances. After seeking advice and expert help from a number of friendly countries, primarily the US, the [[Saudi riyal]] was linked to the [[United States Dollar]] and apart from structural, regulatory, and procedural reforms within a revamped Ministry of Finance; a Central Bank under the name of the [[Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency]] (SAMA) was established during 1952.

In keeping with universal practice, a proper annual state budget had first been issued during 1948 and following the establishment of the above central banking body, SAMA, the third Saudi national budget for the year 1952 complied with internationally observed standards. During this period, technical co-operation, primarily in the guise of the arrival of 35 experts during 1952 and aimed at generating planned economic growth within the Kingdom also received a major boost.

Apart from financial and administrative reforms, the report presented to Abdulaziz by Prince Saud, had commended the implementation of a whole range of vital infrastructure projects relating to the improvement of facilities for the Pilgrims, so important to the Kingdom from a religious and economic point of view, water supply, roads, broadcasting service, health, municipal affairs, port improvements, customs reorganization, and higher education.

Plans for the paved road between Jeddah and Mecca had been announced by Saud during the [[Hajj]] of 1947, and the project for bringing water from the nearby Wadi Fatimah to Jeddah was also inaugurated by him shortly during November 1947. The Hajj of 1950 witnessed the establishment of the Mecca college that was later to be expanded and renamed [[Umm al-Qura University]].

Many of these reforms, along with the complete reorganisation of the system of public administration, through the establishment or restructuring of new or existing ministries and departments, and conceived and recognised as the "Crown Prince's Reforms", issued from his Office by a Decree under his seal on 19 October 1952, were destined to be developed, built upon and some even implemented after the demise of Abdulaziz on 9 November 1953 and during Saud's reign as King. The traditional Consultative Council in Mecca, the [[Majlis-ash-Shura]] or [[Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia]] was expanded on 17 November 1952.

Earlier, on 19 October 1953, Abdulaziz had also appointed Crown Prince Saud as prime minister for the first Saudi Cabinet. Before that, he appointed him as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and Internal Security Units on 25 August 1953. During this period, the [[Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia]], including the Air Force, were modernized on a large scale with American assistance. The Saudi Arabian Airlines fleet was also expanded by the purchase of four new 'Sky Masters' to primarily facilitate the transport of Pilgrims from their homes to the sites of pilgrimage and back, and also within the Kingdom. On 10 June 1953, Saud with the approval of his father also laid the foundation stone for the expansion and refurbishment of the [[Al-Masjid an-Nabawi|Prophet's Mosque]] in Medina. Earlier on, following a visit, he had recommended to Abdulaziz the need for the adoption of this step, which the latter had sanctioned.

==Reign==
[[File:King Saud of Saudi Arabia and King Hussain of Jordan visit to Jerusalem in 1953.jpg|thumb|Kings Saud of Saudi Arabia and [[Hussein of Jordan]] visiting Jerusalem in 1953]]
Saud succeeded his father Abdulaziz as King on 9 November 1953 upon the latter's death.<ref>{{cite web|author=Esther van Eijk|title=Sharia and national law in Saudi Arabia|publisher=Leiden University|url=http://dare.uva.nl/document/221087#page=140|access-date=8 April 2012|archive-date=5 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105224404/http://dare.uva.nl/document/221087#page=140|url-status=live}}</ref> He ascended the throne in a political climate very different from the time when his father Abdulaziz established his Kingdom.

During his reign one of King Saud's major advisors was [[Abdulaziz Al Muammar]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Kai Bird|author-link=Kai Bird
|title=Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming of Age Between the Arabs and Israelis, 1956-1978|year=2010|publisher=Scribner|isbn=978-1-4391-7160-8
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h9FZaNi5ToYC&pg=PA124|page=124|location=New York; London}}</ref>

===National policy===
King Saud announced to the new council of ministers in his very first speech as King, that, while his father's reign was noted for military conquests, he intended his reign to be "a war on poverty, ignorance, and disease with the equitable application of the dictates of the holy Sharia laws to all without exception, and the creation of a strong army".<ref>[http://www.kingsaud.org/history/subarticle/new-ministries/1118 History - The King] King Saud Website {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303094447/http://www.kingsaud.org/history/subarticle/new-ministries/1118|date=3 March 2016}} </ref>
 
In order to cope adequately with the responsibilities of this challenge, and facilitate realistically the implementation of his programme he initially doubled the number of ministries to ten by adding the portfolios of education, agriculture, health, commerce, and industry, plus two directorates: Labour and broadcasting and the bureau of public inspection in 1955, to the existing ministries of foreign affairs, finance, interior, defence, and communications.<ref>[http://www.kingsaud.org/history/article/infrastructure/268 The King - Infrastructure] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303122108/http://www.kingsaud.org/history/article/infrastructure/268|date=3 March 2016}} King Saud Website.</ref> In 1953, the decision had already been taken to move the ministries, then located in Jeddah, to Riyadh, the country's official capital. This had called for the construction of suitable new buildings and the provision of adequate housing for employees. This was an ignition point for Riyadh's modernization and development. Saud's half-brother and crown prince, [[Faisal bin Abdulaziz]], was appointed prime minister while retaining his former portfolio of foreign minister. A five years plan was started, as mentioned in King Saud's first cabinet speech in 1954. The same year King Saud established the Grievance Board which was attached to the council of ministers which became an independent body in 1955.<ref name=maren>{{cite journal|author=Maren Hanson|title=The Influence of French Law on the Legal Development of Saudi Arabia|journal=Arab Law Quarterly|date=August 1987|volume=2|issue=3|pages=272–291|jstor=3381697|doi=10.1163/157302587X00318}}</ref> The board was headed by [[Musaid bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud|Musaid bin Abdul Rahman]], a young uncle of King Saud.<ref name=maren/>

In January 1954 King Saud signed an agreement with Greek businessman [[Aristotle Socrates Onassis]] to establish a state-owned maritime tanker company.<ref name=njc20>{{cite journal|author=Nathan J. Citino|title=Defending the 'postwar petroleum order': The US, Britain and the 1954 Saudi-Onassis Tanker deal|journal=Diplomacy and Statecraft|year=2000|volume=11|issue=2|page=146|doi=10.1080/09592290008406160|s2cid=154961797}}</ref> Given that the agreement was not in favor of the US interests it was soon terminated as a result of foreign pressures.<ref name=njc20/>

In 1957, King Saud also founded King Saud University in Riyadh.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Mona Althonayan|author2=Anastasia Papazafeiropoulou
|title=2013 46th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences |chapter=Evaluating the Performance on ERP Systems in King Saud University (KSU): A Stakeholders' Perspective|publisher=IEEE|page=4078|chapter-format=Conference paper|doi=10.1109/HICSS.2013.210|year=2013|isbn=978-1-4673-5933-7|s2cid=33000643|chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2013.210}}</ref> He clarified the duties and responsibilities of the cabinet minister in May 1958.<ref>{{cite thesis|author=Mosaed Abdullah Nasser|title=Principles and policies in Saudi Arabian foreign relations with special reference to the Superpowers and major Arab neighbours|location=University of Glasgow|page=23|url=https://theses.gla.ac.uk/4515/
|degree=PhD|year=1990}}</ref> He declared in 1960 that schools would be established to educate girls in religious matters, including [[Quran]], [[creed]], and [[fiqh]] as well as in other sciences which were acceptable in Islamic tradition such as house management, and raising and disciplining children.<ref>{{cite book|author=Nora Derbal|chapter=Humanitarian Service in the Name of Social Development: The Historic Origins of Women's Welfare Associations in Saudi Arabia |editor1=E. Möller|editor2=J. Paulmann|editor3=K. Stornig|title=Gendering Global Humanitarianism in the Twentieth Century|year=2020|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]|location=Cham|isbn=978-3-030-44629-1|pages=167–192
|doi=10.1007/978-3-030-44630-7_7|s2cid=226630086|chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-44630-7_7|series=Palgrave Macmillan Transnational History Series }}</ref>

===Foreign relations===
{{more citations needed|section|date=August 2021}}
King Saud played a role of utmost importance on the regional, Arab, Islamic, and international political stages.<ref>[http://www.kingsaud.org/history/the-politician The Politician] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304144356/http://www.kingsaud.org/history/the-politician|date=4 March 2016}} - King Saud Website.</ref> He started his worldwide tours after finishing touring of his country's regions. He visited Arab and friendly countries for strategic and political purposes. He began his tour in 1954 in Egypt, followed by Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Yemen, and Pakistan.

He announced that his sole purpose was to "[[Pan-Islamism|unify Muslims all over the world]]" so they would be like one strong body. King Saud believed in a non-alignment policy between the United States and the [[Soviet Union]], which he discussed thoroughly with Prime Minister [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] during an official visit to India. He also strove to keep the region free from coalitions and blocs that only served foreign interests and thus he refused to join the [[Baghdad Pact]]. Despite pressure exerted from the West, he approved upon meeting President [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] and the Syrian President [[Shukri al-Quwatli]] in Cairo in March 1956 of making a joint statement regarding their understanding of security and defense matters, that coincided with other agreements in the financial, economical and development area.

In November 1955, King Saud granted a 16 million dollars loan to Syria for five years. He agreed to exchange products and exempt agricultural products from import-export license and custom duties. With the continuous Israeli assault on Jordan in 1955, King Saud invited military leaders of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan to Riyadh in order to discuss procedures to counter the aggression. He agreed to cover all expenses of reinforcing Jordan's National Guard and armed forces. He also supported the [[Algerian War|Algerian revolution]] against France, diplomatically and financially. King Saud made a statement inviting people to donate money for the revolution; the donations amounted to $1,200,000. The government donated one million dollars of that amount in 1956, and the rest of the donations were granted yearly. King Saud kept granting donations to Algeria and kept defending it until it established its independence in 1962.

Imam [[Ahmad bin Yahya]] of Yemen joined the Arab endeavors to unify their ranks when he signed the joint defense agreement with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. This event took place after the Imam's meeting with King Saud, President Gamal Abdel Nasser, and President Shukri al-Quwatli on 21 April 1956, following the Jeddah Pact between Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
[[File:Shukri_al-Quwatli_et_Nasser.jpg|alt=Shukri_al-Quwatli_et_Nasser|thumb|President [[Shukri al-Quwatli]] signing a defense agreement with President [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] of Egypt and King Saud in Cairo on 13 March 1956]]
Maintaining his support to the Arab countries after the nationalization of the Suez Canal Company on 26 July 1956, although the Egyptian Government did not consult him as it did with Syria in taking that decision contrary to his expectations as a military ally. He succeeded in strengthening his relation with King [[Faisal II of Iraq]] after a meeting held in Dammam on 20 September 1956. It was followed that same month and in the same place by a meeting with President Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Syrian President Shukri al-Quwatli during which he confirmed his total support for the Egyptian stand in this crisis. When Britain, France, and Israel invaded Egypt on 29 October 1956 as a result of the nationalization of the canal, King Saud declared a general mobilization and ordered the opening of enlistment offices.

He offered total assistance to the Egyptian government, personally supervising operations and welcoming Egyptian combat planes into his country for their protection. Among the first to enlist were [[Fahd bin Abdulaziz]], [[Sultan bin Abdulaziz]], [[Salman bin Abdulaziz]] and King Saud's son [[Fahd bin Saud]], along with many other princes. As a means of exerting pressure on the British and French governments, he used a weapon never used before, when he blocked oil exports, banning all British and French tankers and other tankers carrying Saudi oil to these two countries. He also broke off relations with Britain and France.

King Saud had used this economic weapon for the first time although he was aware of the possible repercussions of such a procedure on the national economy. He sustained his support after the war so as to remove the aftermath of the aggression. He offered generous contributions, including 2 million Saudi riyals to the Egyptian [[International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement|Red Crescent]] to help victims of Port Said.
[[File:Koning Saud Ibu Abdul Assiz bezoekt Madrid Samen met Franco, Bestanddeelnr 913-5403.jpg|thumb|King Saudi with Spanish leader [[Francisco Franco]] in Madrid, 1962]]
King Saud was still keen on keeping the region free of political and defense blocs that only support a superpower against another. Despite his solid relations with the American system, on which he relied in several areas because of the oil discovery and production, he seriously thought of canceling the American access for using Dhahran airport as a means of exerting pressure on the United States of America.

Despite traditionally intimate ties of his country with the United States of America, and the ingrained alienation of communism and Islamic beliefs, he refused to join the American sponsored the Baghdad Pact of 1955, (later on the Central Treaty Organisation – CENTO), – aimed at opposing the expansion of Communist influence in the region, despite the involvement of the fellow Arab State of Iraq in it, along with [[Iran]], [[Turkey]], Pakistan and Britain. Jordan, which also was keen to join the Pact and Syria as well, had been discouraged from doing so with the aid of political and financial pressure.

President of the United States [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] invited King Saud to undertake an official visit to the U.S. in 1957 since he believed that King Saud played a crucial role in implementing his doctrine of deterring and fighting communism in the Middle East and the Islamic countries. Once King Saud received the invitation he convened with Presidents Gamal Abdel Nasser and Shukri al-Quwatli in Cairo in January 1957. The three leaders agreed to try to convince Eisenhower to pressure the Israeli government to evacuate occupied [[Sharm El Sheikh]] that overlooks the [[Gulf of Aqaba]] and to withdraw to the borders of the previous truce on all frontiers.

He maintained his support to the countries at war with Israel, and signed a ten-year agreement with the Egyptian and Syrian presidents and with King [[Hussein of Jordan]] to ease Jordan's financial burdens as a result of this conflict. The annual Egyptian and Saudi financial assistance added up to five million Egyptian pounds from each of the two countries.
[[File:President John F. Kennedy Visits Saud bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia (04).jpg|thumb|King Saud with U.S. President [[John F. Kennedy]] on 27 January 1962]]
He also discussed with the American President his dispute with Britain over the [[Al Buraymi Oasis]], an oil zone between the frontiers of Saudi Arabia, Oman and Abu Dhabi which was under British protection. The issue of the Al Buraymi Oasis was one of the issues that had been raised since the reign of his father King Abdulaziz and was still pending. After several clashes, the case went to international arbitration. When he accepted the American president's invitation to the United States he received a good welcome, but the Mayor of New York, [[Robert F. Wagner, Jr.]], refused to welcome the King because of his national and Islamic politics.<ref>J. Joseph Huthmacher. (1971). ''Senator Robert F. Wagner and the rise of urban liberalism'', Holiday House, {{ISBN|978-0689702594}} pp. 14-15.</ref>

King Saud delivered an important speech during the banquet held by [[Dag Hammarskjöld]], the Swedish UN Secretary-General in which he addressed the different aspects of the Arab complaints, in accordance with the UN charter and its powers. He invited all countries to value the charter and implement it in full; he also addressed the outcomes and repercussions of the [[Cold War]]. During his negotiations with the American president in Washington on 2 February 1957, the American President explained the principles and objectives of his [[doctrine]], known as the [[Eisenhower Doctrine]], and the effective role that he expected of him as a powerful friend of the United States of America and as an eminent Arab and Muslim leader in fighting the communist movement invading the Middle East and the Islamic countries.

Within this scheme, Dwight D. Eisenhower offered a 25 million dollar loan to the Saudi Government on 24 January 1957. In return, King Saud explained that he had refused Soviet Union military aid to fight Britain and that Britain's policy was what urged the Arabs to seek the Soviet Union's help. He also stressed that the "non-aligned" countries in the region were benefiting from Soviet aid more than the American allied countries were benefiting from American aid. He considered that this aid should double if the American President wished to succeed in his endeavors. King Saud asked Dwight D. Eisenhower to exert pressure on Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories of Palestine and settle the Palestinian cause, and to convince France to reach a settlement regarding the independence of Algeria. On the other hand, he promised to inform the Arabs of the Eisenhower Doctrine and its purposes; and to inquire about the Arab reaction on the official and officious levels before making any commitments. King Saud explained to the American President that a large bulk of his country's budget was allocated to development projects and to the five-year plan and that he needed military aid before being able to play any role expected from him in fighting [[Communism]]. The American government agreed to give him a 250 million dollar loan and all kinds of land, sea, and air weaponry, and to train the Saudi army on how to use them.

In return, the American government was to be granted facilities to use Dhahran airport for five years, after which it would be returned with all its equipment to the Saudi Government in 1962.
 
Before briefing his Arab peers about the results of this visit and the Eisenhower Doctrine, King Saud visited Spain, Morocco, Tunisia and Libya and informed them of these results. In February 1957 he met the leaders of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan in Cairo and informed them of Dwight D. Eisenhower's objectives. Under the influence of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Syrian President Shukri al-Quwatli, King Saud, wanting to support a unanimous Arab stance, decided to back up the Egyptian and Syrian Presidents in their decision not to contribute to the Eisenhower Doctrine.

When the Republic of Iraq decided to annex Kuwait in 1961 under [[Abd al-Karim Qasim]], King Saud protested in international forums, declaring "any action against Kuwait is an action against Saudi Arabia."

===Struggle with Faisal===
Immediately after Abdulaziz's death, a fierce struggle erupted between his two eldest surviving sons, Saud and Faisal. The increase in oil revenues did not solve the financial problem associated with Saudi Arab debt, estimated to have been $US200 million in 1953. In fact, this debt more than doubled by 1958, when it reached $US450 million. The Saudi riyal lost half of its official value against the United States dollars. Both [[ARAMCO]] and international banks declined Saudi's demand for credit. Saud suspended the few government projects he had initiated but continued his spending on luxurious palaces.<ref name=alrasheed02>Madawi Al Rasheed. (2002). ''A History of Saudi Arabia''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; pp. 108–9. {{ISBN|9780521761284}}</ref>

In 1958, Saud was forced to delegate most of his executive powers to Faisal. Saud and Faisal fought an internal battle over the definition of political responsibilities and the division of government functions. Saud was often associated among other things with the plundering of oil revenues, luxurious palaces, and conspiracy inside and outside of Saudi Arabia while Faisal was associated with sobriety, piety, puritanism, thriftiness, and modernization.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

The battle between the two brothers was fought over the role to be assigned to the Council of Ministers. Saud abolished the office of Prime Minister by royal decree, thus enforcing his position as King and ''de facto'' prime minister. Saud thought of himself as both King and prime minister whereas Faisal envisioned more powers being in his own hand as Crown Prince and deputy prime minister.<ref name=alrasheed02/>

===Forced abdication===
King Saud's family members worried about Saud's profligacy and his inability to meet the challenge of Nasser's Egypt. Corruption and backwardness weakened the regime. [[Radio Cairo]]'s anti-Saudi broadcasting was finding a receptive audience.<ref>W. Quandt. (1981) Saudi Arabia in the 1980s, The Brooking Institutions, p. 90</ref>

King Saud and Prince Faisal continued their power struggle until 1962 when Prince Faisal formed a cabinet in the absence of the King, who had gone abroad for medical treatment. Prince Faisal allied with Prince Fahd and Prince Sultan. Prince Faisal's new government excluded the sons of Saud. He promised a ten-point reform that included the drafting of the basic law, the abolition of slavery, and the establishment of a judicial council.

Upon his return, King Saud rejected Prince Faisal's new arrangement and threatened to mobilize the Royal Guard against his brother. In response, Prince Faisal demanded King Saud make him regent and turn over all royal powers to him. In this, he had the crucial backing of the [[ulema]] (elite Islamic scholars), including a ''[[fatwā|fatwa]]'' (edict) issued by the grand [[mufti]] of Saudi Arabia, a relative of Prince Faisal on his mother's side, calling on King Saud to accede to his brother's demands.<ref>James Wynbrandt. (2004). ''A Brief History of Saudi Arabia'', New York: Facts on File, Inc., p.{{nbsp}}225 {{ISBN|978-0816057955}}</ref>

King Saud continued his attempts to regain power and formed a cabinet in Jeddah in December 1963.<ref name=thetim/> He ordered the Mecca radio to announce the formation of his cabinet.<ref name=thetim/> The army forces loyal to Faisal besieged the radio station and did not allow the radio to broadcast it.<ref name=thetim/> In addition, Faisal gave an ultimatum to the king to leave Saudi Arabia.<ref name=thetim>{{cite news |title=Saudi Arabia Crisis Reported|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS118187554/TTDA?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=695035f4|access-date=2 November 2023|work=[[The Times]]|issue=55898|date=2 January 1964|location=Cairo}}</ref>

Following these events Faisal ordered the National Guard to surround Saud's palace. In March 1964 Saud finally relented and named Faisal regent with full executive powers, effectively reducing himself to a figurehead. In November, the ulema, cabinet and senior members of the ruling family forced Saud to abdicate altogether, and Faisal became king in his own right.<ref>Vassiliev, Alexei, ''The History of Saudi Arabia'', London, UK: Al Saqi Books, 1998, p.{{nbsp}}366-7</ref><ref name="EoO">[http://lexicorient.com/e.o/faisal.htm King Faisal] ''Encyclopedia of the Orient'' {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012095316/http://lexicorient.com/e.o/faisal.htm|date=12 October 2017}}, Retrieved 27 March 2007.</ref><ref>[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Faysal Faysal] 
{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001171323/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Faysal|date=1 October 2017}} ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''</ref> At the same time Prince [[Muhammad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud|Muhammad bin Abdulaziz]] was sent to Al Naṣariah Palace of King Saud to demand his and his sons' loyalty to the chosen king, Faisal.<ref name=jman>{{cite journal|author=Joseph Mann|title=King without a Kingdom: Deposed King Saud and his intrigues|journal=Studia Orientalia Electronica|year=2013|volume=1|url=https://journal.fi/store/issue/view/1056}}</ref> On 28 November 1964 an official announcement was made in Radio Mecca stating that 11 of Saud's sons had declared allegiance to King Faisal.<ref name=jman/>

On 6 January 1965 Saud went to the palace with his uncle [[Abdullah bin Abdul Rahman]] to declare his allegiance to King Faisal.<ref name=jman/>

===Exile and later life===
Following this event Saud left Saudi Arabia in January 1965.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Rosie Bsheer|title=A Counter-Revolutionary State: Popular Movements and the Making of Saudi Arabia|journal=Past & Present|date=February 2018|issue=238|page=247|doi=10.1093/pastj/gtx057}}</ref> He was suggested to enter exile in [[Geneva]], [[Switzerland]], and then on to other European cities, but he settled in [[Athens]].<ref>{{cite magazine
|title=Obituary. Death of a King|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time Magazine]]|date=July 1969|volume=93|issue=10|access-date=14 September 2020
|url=https://time.com/archive/6633868/saudi-arabia-death-of-a-king/}}</ref> Later he unsuccessfully attempted to settle in [[Beirut]].<ref name=jman/> In 1966 Saud was invited by Nasser to live in Egypt; another report claims that King Saud went to Egypt under refuge granted by Nasser and stayed there from 1966 to 1967.<ref name=jman/> King Saud was also allowed to broadcast on [[Egyptian Radio|Radio Cairo]]. Some of his sons, including [[Khalid bin Saud|Prince Khalid]], [[Badr bin Saud Al Saud|Prince Badr]], Prince Sultan and [[Mansour bin Saud Al Saud|Prince Mansour]], joined him and supported his attempt to regain the throne. However, after the June 1967 [[Six-Day War|Arab-Israel War]], he lost the support of Egypt.<ref>{{cite book|author=Joseph A. Kechichian|title=Succession in Saudi Arabia|year=2001|publisher=Palgrave|location=New York
|url=https://archive.org/details/successioninsaud00kech|url-access=registration|isbn=9780312238803|page=[https://archive.org/details/successioninsaud00kech/page/9 9]}}</ref> In October 1967 he left Egypt and went first to [[Vienna]] and then to Athens where he remained until his death on 23 February 1969.<ref name=jman/>

==Personal life==
[[File:Mashhoor bin Saud.jpg|125px|thumbnail|King Saud with his son [[Mashhoor bin Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud|Mashhoor]] in 1957]]
Saud had 108 children and three wives at the time of his death. One of his many wives was Fawzia bint Nawwaf, a granddaughter of [[Nuri bin Hazaa Al Shalaan|Nuri Al Shalaan]], the Emir of the [[Ruwallah|Ruwullah tribe]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Andrew J. Shryock|title=The Rise of Nasir Al-Nims: A Tribal Commentary on Being and Becoming a Shaykh|journal=[[Journal of Anthropological Research]]|volume=46|issue=2|year=1990|page=163
|jstor=3630070|doi=10.1086/jar.46.2.3630070|s2cid=147396225}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=William Lancaster|title=The Rwala Bedouin Today
|year=1981|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0-521-28275-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IWw5AAAAIAAJ&pg=PR86|page=86
|location=Cambridge|author-link=William Lancaster (anthropologist)}}</ref> One of Saud's grandchildren; Amatalhaq Alhadi, is a mediator in Yemeni affairs, still working today. Another, Dalal bint Saud Al Saud, a palace figure and philanthropist, had some part in women's rights up until 2021. Only a few of his daughters have or had any public role.<ref name=shen>{{cite web|work=The Cutting Edge|url=http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=52963&pageid=&pagename=|title=The Next Generation of Saudi Princes: Who Are They?|author=Simon Henderson|date=26 October 2011|access-date=26 May 2012}}</ref>

His eldest son, Fahd, was [[Ministry of Defense (Saudi Arabia)|minister of defense]] from 1956 to 1960.<ref name=app>{{cite web|title=Appendix 7. Leading Grandsons of Abdul Aziz|url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/bbm%3A978-0-312-29962-0%2F1.pdf|work=Springer|access-date=13 August 2020}}</ref> His youngest child is [[Basmah bint Saud]].<ref name=acton>{{cite news|title=The Acton princess calling for reform in Saudi Arabia: Royal runs campaign for change in her homeland from a suburb in west London|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/the-acton-princess-calling-for-reform-in-saudi-arabia-6284225.html|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|author=Cahal Milmo|date=3 January 2012|access-date=21 June 2012}}</ref> His third son, [[Muhammed bin Saud|Muhammed]], was sometime governor of [[Al Bahah Province]] and died on 8 July 2012.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[Saudi Gazette]]|date=8 July 2012|title=Prince Mohammed Bin Saud Bin Abdul Aziz dies abroad|url=http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20120708129386|access-date=8 July 2012|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730171527/http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20120708129386}}</ref> Prince [[Mishari bin Saud bin Abdul-Aziz|Mishari]], replaced his elder brother as Al Bahah governor with the rank of minister in August 2010.<ref>{{cite news|author=P. K. Abdul Ghafour|title=Mishari bin Saud is new Baha governor|url=http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article117231.ece|access-date=6 April 2012|newspaper=Arab News|date=28 August 2010}}</ref>

Another son, [[Mishaal bin Saud|Mishaal]], was the governor of [[Najran Province]] from 1996 to November 2008.<ref>{{cite news|author=Rob Morris|title=King Abdullah fires Najran governor: HRW|url=http://www.arabianbusiness.com/king-abdullah-fires-najran-governor-hrw-41591.html|access-date=19 April 2012|newspaper=Arabian Business.com|date=23 December 2008}}</ref> His son [[Abdul-Rahman bin Saud bin Abdul-Aziz|Abdul Rahman]] was a supporter of [[Al Nassr FC]]. One son, Badr bin Saud, was governor of Riyadh during his father's reign, while another son, [[Hussam bin Saud Al Saud|Hussam]], is a businessman.

[[File:President John F. Kennedy Visits Saud bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia (06).jpg|125px|thumb|left|Daughter [[Dalal bint Saud Al Saud|Dalal]], between her father and U.S president [[John F. Kennedy]] in Palm Beach, Florida.]]

One of his daughters, named Hajer, died outside the Kingdom following an illness on 17 November 2011. Her funeral prayer was performed at [[Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque]] in Riyadh after [[Asr prayer]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Death of Princess Hajir bint Saud|work=[[Saudi Press Agency]]|url=http://www.spa.gov.sa/english/readsinglenews.php?id=944510&content_id=&scroll=1|access-date=8 April 2012|archive-date=18 October 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018215311/http://www.spa.gov.sa/english/readsinglenews.php?id=944510&content_id=&scroll=1}}</ref> Another daughter, Noura, was the mother of the former deputy defense minister [[Fahd bin Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Saud]] and died in late July 2013.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Saudi Arabia: Noura bint Saud's funeral|journal=Gulf States Newsletter|date=1 August 2013|url=http://archive.crossborderinformation.com/Article/%EF%BB%BFSaudi+Arabia+Nura+Bint+Saud%E2%80%99s+funeral%E2%80%A9.aspx?date=20130801#}}</ref> Another daughter, Hessah, was the first Saudi woman to become the principal of a school.<ref>{{cite news|title=Speaking of King Saud|url=http://www.arabnews.com/node/293145|access-date=23 April 2013|year=2007|newspaper=Arab News}}</ref> His daughter [[Fahda bint Saud|Fahda]] is an artist.

In 2001, his daughter Buniah (born 1960) was arrested and charged with assaulting her maid in Florida. She was held for one night in prison and was released on bail of $5,000 and ordered to surrender her passport.<ref>{{citation|title=Princess charged with assault in US|work=BBC News|date=19 December 2001 |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1719025.stm|access-date=3 September 2023}}</ref> After the death of his elder brother Turki, Saud married his wife, Muneera bint Obaid; their daughter, Al Anoud, died in January 2006 aged 83 and was buried in Mecca.<ref>{{cite news|work=[[Elaph]]|url=http://www.elaph.com/Web/Politics/2006/1/124021.htm?sectionarchive=Politics|title=وفاة الاميرة العنود بنت سعود بن عبدالعزيز|access-date=27 April 2013|language=ar}}</ref>

He was described as "although not as large as his illustrious father, King Saud is about six feet two inches (187 cm) in height and weighs well over two hundred pounds. Like his father, he has weak eyes, but he has also inherited Abdulaziz's magnetic smile and a keen sense of humor, which wins him many friends."<ref>Richard Harlakenden Sanger. (1970). ''The Arabian Peninsula'', Books for Libraries Press, p. 46</ref>

The "Red Palace" which King Abdulaziz built for King Saud and his mother was opened by the [[Ministry of Culture (Saudi Arabia)|Ministry of Culture]] in 2019 to the public. It was Saudi Arabia's first concrete building and now exhibits displays about his life.<ref>{{cite news|date=23 March 2019|title=Red Palace pulling crowds to Riyadh|url=http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/561841/SAUDI-ARABIA/Red-Palace-pulling-crowds-to-Riyadh|access-date=2 December 2019|newspaper=Saudi Gazette|quote=King Abdul Aziz, the Kingdom’s founder, built the Red Palace in the Al Fouta neighborhood of Riyadh by for his son Saud, the then crown prince and successor to the throne, to live with his mother.}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Wives and children of King Saud<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.kingsaud.org/familytree|title=King Saud Family Tree|access-date=28 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805162107/http://www.kingsaud.org/familytree|archive-date=5 August 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
!Wives (In no particular order)
!Sons (In no particular order)
!Daughters (In no particular order)
|-
|Munirah bint Saad bin Saud Al Saud
|[[Fahd bin Saud Al Saud|Fahd]] (1923–2006)
|
|-
|Baraka al Raziqi al Alma'i
|[[Saad bin Saud Al Saud|Saad]] (1924–1967), [[Muhammed bin Saud Al Saud|Mohammed]] (1934–2012)
|
|-
|Nayla (Um Musaed)
|[[Bandar bin Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud|Bandar]] (1926–2016), Musaed (1927–2012)
|
|-
|Fatimah bint Ahmed bin Ibrahim Al Shahrani
|Abdullah (1924–1997)
|Nayfa
|-
|Haleemah
|[[Badr bin Saud Al Saud|Badr]] (1934–2004), Salman (born 1953)
|Ameerah
|-
|Al Jawhara bint Turki Al Ahmed Al Sudairi
|Faisal (1927–2012), Nayef (born 1943), Mamdooh (1944–2024), [[Abdul Rahman bin Saud Al Saud|Abdulrahman]] (1946–2004), Ahmad (1953–2015), Abdulaziz (born 1960)<ref>Not to be confused with his cousin once removed, [[Abdulaziz bin Saud Al Saud]]</ref>
|
|-
|Jamila bint Asa'ad bin Ibrahim Mareyi (deceased)
|[[Khalid bin Saud Al Saud (1925–2020)|Khalid]] (1925–2020), Abdulmajeed (1948–1991), Abdulmalek (1953–2005)
|[[Fahda bint Saud Al Saud|Fahda]] (born 1951), Basmah (born 1964), Shaikha, Jawaher (died 2001)
|-
|Zainab (Um Thamer)
|Thamer (1927–1967), Abdulmohsen (1942–1973)
|
|-
|Barakah
|Majid (1929–1969)
|
|-
|Munirah Al Haboot Al Mutairi
|[[Sultan bin Saud|Sultan]] (1939–1975)
|Eman
|-
|Noura bint Nahar Al Mandeel
|[[Mishaal bin Saud Al Saud|Mishaal]] (born 1940)
|
|-
|Turkiyah bint Mohammed Al Abdulaziz
|Abdul Elah (1941–2023), [[Mansour bin Saud Al Saud|Mansour]] (born 1946), Turki (born 1953), [[Mashour bin Saud Al Saud|Mashour]] (1954–2004), Al Waleed (born 1961)
|[[Dalal bint Saud Al Saud|Dalal]] (1957–2021), Juahir
|-
|Nayla (Um Fawaz)
|Fawaz (1948–1980)
|
|-
|Fouza bint Mohammed Al Theeb (died 2007)
|Talal (1952–2020)
|Hayfa (died 2004), Munirah, Haya (1948–2008), Sara
|-
|Nayla (Um Muqrin) (died 2018)
|Muqrin (1950–1983), Saif Al Islam (born 1956)
|
|-
|Badra Saleh Ismail Olayan (died 2017)
|Nawaf (1951–1999), Saif Al Deen (born 1962), Montaser (born 1963)
|Maha, Noof
|-
|Sa'diyah
|Sattam (born 1954), Motasem (born 1961)
|Reema
|-
|Mariam (Um Nasser)
|Nasser (1954–1974), Ghaleb (1957–1993)
|Terkiyah
|-
|Nayeema bint Obeid [[al-Zaabi]]
|[[Mishari bin Saud Al Saud|Mishari]] (born 1954)
|
|-
|Nadera
|Humood (born 1955)
|Hend, Najla, Mohrah
|-
|Sara bint Madhi Al Fahri Al Qahtani
|Yazeed (1955–2023),  Abdulkareem (1960–2022)
|Lulwa (died 2016), Albandari (died 1985)
|-
|Zainab (Um Felwah)
|Hathlool (born 1956), Ez Al Deen (1963–1989)
|Felwah, Sultana (died 2024), Zahwa
|-
|Fatima
|Shagran (1958–1987), Motaz (1962–2002)
|Nazha (died 2014)
|-
|Unknown (Um Jelewi) (died 2015)
|Jelewi (born 1960), Saifalnasser (1963–2005)
|Watfaa, Abeer (married to Abdulaziz bin muqrin bin Abdulaziz Al Saud)
|-
|Unknown (Um Mussaab) (died 2021)
|Mussaab (born 1962)
|Ibtisam, Nawal
|-
|Gmasha (died 2020)
|Nahar (1962–2021)
|Seta, Latifa (married to General Ahmed Al Qahtani), Al Jawhara, Bazza (died 2025)
|-
|Mariam (Um Shaha) (died 2010)
|Yousef (born 1963)
|Shaha, Aljazzie
|-
|Noura bint Abdullah Al Damer
|[[Hussam bin Saud Al Saud|Hussam]] (born 1960)
|
|-
|Shamsa
|Hassan (1967–2016)
|Hajar (1958–2011)
|-
|Unknown (Um Jawzaa)
|
|Jawzaa, Tarfa (died 2021)
|-
|Nour bint Mohammed bin Abdullah
|
|Abta'a (died), Faizah
|-
|Lulwa bint Saleh Al Sabhan
|
|Noura (died 2013), Moudhi
|-
|Noweir bint Obeid Al Rasheed
|
|Alanood (1923–2006)
|-
|Jeheir bint Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Terki
|
|Hessa (died 2016)
|-
|Gbasa bint Mohammed bin Ayedh Al Rabee'a
|
|Mashael
|-
|Ghusoon bint Mohammed (died 2019)
|
|Zeinah, Dina, Alyah
|-
|Ameenah bint Mohammed bin Majid
|
|Lamya, Mona (died 2015), Delayel
|-
|Nayla bint Saeed bin Rashed Al-Habsi
|
|Fawziyah
|-
|Hanan
|
|Buniah (born 1960)
|-
|Unknown (Um Ebtessam)
|
|
|-
|Unknown (Um Gmasha)
|
|Gmasha
|}

==Death and funeral==
King Saud died at the age of 67 on 23 February 1969 in Athens after suffering a heart attack.<ref name=jman/> Two days before his death, he felt ill and asked his doctor Filnger from Austria to examine him. However, his physician arrived after he had died.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kingsaud.net/inside/silver/index8.html|title=King Saud|access-date=23 September 2019|archive-date=3 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803083944/http://www.kingsaud.net/inside/silver/index8.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the morning of that day, Saud took a short walk on a beach with his daughter Nozhah, near the hotel where he used to live (Hotel Kavouri). His body was taken to Mecca then to Riyadh and the funeral ceremony took place at the [[Great Mosque of Mecca|Great Mosque]] in Mecca. He was buried next to his father's and grandfathers' graves at [[Al Oud cemetery]] in Riyadh.<ref>{{cite news|title=King Saud Dies at 67
|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6_ktAAAAIBAJ&pg=901,5761412|access-date=23 February 2019|work=Montreal Gazette|agency=Associated Press|date=24 February 1969|location=Montreal|page=41}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia
|title=Saʿūd {{!}} king of Saudi Arabia|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saud|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=19 February 2019}}</ref><!--Per [[Talk:Saud of Saudi Arabia#Death]], this source is apparently not reliable with regard to his date of death. Leaving it here in case it becomes so in the future. --AlanM1 17:11, 23 February 2019 (UTC): <ref name="KSF-Death">{{cite web|title=The Death Of King Saud
|url=https://thekingsaudlibrary.org/en/history/history-king-saud/warriors-sojourn/260/|work=King Saud Foundation
|access-date=23 February 2019}}</ref>-->

==Awards==
{{Infobox royal styles
| name        = King Saud
| image       = File:EmblemSA.svg
| image_size  = 80
| reference   = [[Majesty|His Majesty]]
| spoken      = Your Majesty
}}
Immediately after his accession to the throne Iranian ruler [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] sent King Saud the highest decoration of the [[Pahlavi Iran|Imperial Iran]], [[Order of Pahlavi]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Banafsheh Keynoush|title=Saudi Arabia and Iran. Friends or Foes?|year=2016
|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]|location=New York|isbn=978-1-137-58939-2|page=66|doi=10.1007/978-1-137-58939-2|s2cid=156413085 |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-58939-2}}</ref> 

During his reign, King Saud was the recipient of many honors and orders of various nations. In the formal portraits of King Saud in ceremonial uniform, he is wearing the breast stars of the following orders.

* Syrian Republic: [[Order of the Umayyads]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kingsaud.org/library/article/medals-and-awards-of-king-saud-bin-abdulaziz/761%20-%20Medals%20and%20Awards%20of%20King%20Saud|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512170413/http://www.kingsaud.org/library/article/medals-and-awards-of-king-saud-bin-abdulaziz/761%20-%20Medals%20and%20Awards%20of%20King%20Saud|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 May 2016|title=Medals and Awards of King Saud Bin Abdulaziz|access-date=12 July 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://colnect.com/ar/medals/medal/16537-Order_of_Ummayad_Syria_1st_Class-General_Service-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7|title=وسام: Order of Ummayad Syria 1st Class (سوريا) (General Service) Col:SY-0001|access-date=12 July 2016}}</ref>
* Lebanon: The [[Order of the Cedar]].
* Afghanistan: The [[Order of the Supreme Sun]].
In the central display case, the following Orders are on display:
* [[Kingdom of Libya]]: Star and Sash of the Order of Mohammed Ibn Ali El Senoussi.
* Jordan: Star of the [[Supreme Order of the Renaissance]].
* Spain: Star and Sash of the [[Order of Civil Merit]].
* Greece: Star of the Order of Saint Mark.
* Egypt: Collar of the [[Order of the Nile]] (1954)<ref>[http://www.omsa.org/files/jomsa_arch/Splits/1988/153251_JOMSA_Vol39_12_19.pdf Grand Collar of the Order of the Nile] OMSA. Retrieved 28 March 2023</ref>
* Unknown: A poorly manufactured breast star – possibly a trial piece.
It was during King Saud's reign that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia instituted, either in 1954 or 1955, its own series of orders, decorations, and medals. This series of awards consisted of the following:
* [[Order of King Abdulaziz]]
* Star of King Saud
* National Military Decoration
* Efficiency Medal
* Medal of Merit
* Medal of Duty
* Medal of Appreciation
* Long Service and Good Example Medal
* War Wounded Medal
* Palestine Medal

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
|1= 1. '''Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud'''
|2= 2. [[Ibn Saud|Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud]]
|3= 3. [[Wadha bint Muhammad Al Orair]]
|4= 4. [[Abdul Rahman bin Faisal Al Saud (1850–1928)|Abdul Rahman bin Faisal Al Saud]]
|5= 5. [[Sara bint Ahmed Al Sudairi]]
|6= 6. Muhammad Al Orair
|7= 7. Abta Sardah
|8= 8. [[Faisal bin Turki bin Abdullah Al Saud]]
|9= 9. Sara bint Mishari bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan Al Saud
|10= 10. Ahmed Al Kabir bin Mohammed bin Turki Al Sudairi
}}

==See also==
*[[List of things named after Saudi Kings#Saud]]

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=33em}}

==External links==
*[http://www.kingsaud.net/at/index.php English version of his official website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019062454/http://www.kingsaud.net/at/index.php |date=19 October 2016 }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Saud of Saudi Arabia}}
[[Category:20th-century kings of Saudi Arabia|Saud]]
[[Category:1902 births]]
[[Category:1969 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials at Al Oud cemetery|Saud]]
[[Category:Crown princes of Saudi Arabia|Saud]]
[[Category:Monarchs who abdicated]]
[[Category:Prime ministers of Saudi Arabia|Saud Abdulaziz]]
[[Category:Saudi Arabian anti-communists|Saud Abdulaziz]]
[[Category:Sons of Ibn Saud|Saud]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Pahlavi]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Unity of the Nation]]
[[Category:Recipients of the National Order of the Cedar]]
[[Category:Recipients of Supreme Order of the Renaissance (Jordan)]]
[[Category:Collars of the Order of Civil Merit]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Nile]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Legion of Merit]]
[[Category:Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire]]