• Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly once dressed up as a policeman and went to a mall to show off in from of real policemen.
  • The claim is made in “MBS,” a new book by Ben Hubbard, a reporter who covers the Middle East for The New York Times.
  • “At least once he dressed up as a police officer and went to an outdoor mall area in Riyadh to show off. The actual police officers could do little because they knew he was the governor’s son,” Hubbard writes.
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Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman once dressed up as a police officer and went to a Riyadh mall to show off, knowing real officers were too scared to arrest him, according to a new book.

The claim was made in “MBS,” a biography of the de facto Saudi ruler by Ben Hubbard, who covers the Middle East for The New York Times.

The book, released on March 10, contains many anecdotes about Crown Prince Mohammed’s life, sourced from more than 100 interviews conducted between 2013 and 2018.

One striking story concerns the time a young Mohammed bin Salman decided to show off at mall:

"In his teens, MBS developed a reputation for misbehaving. Fellow royals and others who knew him say he seemed frustrated and angry, erupting at times in fits of rage.

"At least once he dressed up as a police officer and went to an outdoor mall area in Riyadh to show off. The actual police officers could do little because they knew he was the governor's son."

Hubbard writes that Crown Prince Mohammed declined to be interviewed for his book.

In "MBS" Hubbard also revealed the fate of the glowing orb that Donald Trump touched alongside King Salman bin Abdulaziz in May 2017.

The photo prompted a flurry of memes comparing them to supervillains.