Saudi princess tries to sneak out of Paris hotel owing six million euros

A Saudi princess was stopped by police as she tried to sneak out of a Paris luxury along with her 60-strong entourage, leaving unpaid bills worth six million euros. Staff called the cops when Maha al-Sudani, the former wife of Crown Prince Nayef ben Abdel Aziz, tried to leave at 3.30am Thursday.

Wikimedia Commons/Siren Com

Paris police on Saturday confirmed press reports that the princess had tried to do a runner on the swanky Shangri-La hotel on Paris’s posh avenue Iéna, near the Arc de Triomphe.

They contacted the Saudi embassy and searched the dozens of bags being carried by her companions.

No charges appear to have been made since Al-Sudani enjoys diplomatic immunity and the hotel said Saturday that it has no unpaid bills at the moment.

The princess already had a dubious reputation in Paris’s luxury establishments after leaving bills of as much as 15 million euros for jewels, clothes and hotel accommodation behind her in 2009.

Then the fashion chain Key Largo went to court to obtain 89,000 euros she owed.

King Abdallah then grounded her, confining her to a palace for two years. But she returned to Paris in 2011, taking over the entire seventh floor of the Shangri-La, 41 suites and rooms, at about 20,000 euros a night.

She had managed to pay about 10 million euros of her bill before her pre-dawn departure.

She reportedly intended to move to the nearby Royal Monceau hotel in the hope that it’s Qatari owners would be more understanding of payment problems.