Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Khalid Al-Saud, widely known as "The Sleeping Prince," died over the weekend at the age of 36, after spending more than two decades in a coma. The late prince was severely injured in a car accident in London at the age of 15 and had been kept alive ever since with the aid of a ventilator. Despite his family’s appeals to top medical experts, he never regained full consciousness.
Al-Waleed bin Khalid Al-Saud sustained critical injuries and suffered brain hemorrhaging in the 2005 crash, which occurred while he was attending a military college in the British capital.
After the accident, he was transferred to a hospital in Riyadh, where his father, Khalid bin Talal Al-Saud—a senior member of the Saudi royal family—remained deeply involved in his care. The elder prince refused to allow doctors to disconnect his son from life-support systems, even when advised to do so in 2015.
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In 2020, a video shared on social media briefly sparked hope among those wishing for the recovery of the ailing prince. In the footage, Al-Waleed was seen lifting his fingers in response to a woman's greeting. When she asked if he could raise his hand higher, he managed to briefly lift his entire hand from the bed. However, hopes for a full recovery never materialized.
On Saturday, the prince's father announced his son's death in a message posted on the social media platform X. Since then, the hashtag "The Sleeping Prince" has gone viral across Saudi social media.
Thousands have offered condolences to the family online. "Your time on this earth was a blessing to your family and the entire world," one user wrote, while another added, "May his soul rest in complete peace." Funeral ceremonies for the prince are set to begin Sunday.