Why Saudi Arabia's billionaire Prince Al-Waleed is known as 'sleeping prince'?

Prince Al-Waleed bin Khaled bin Talal, a member of the Saudi royal family, remains in a coma two decades after suffering severe injuries in a road accident in 2005 while attending a military college.

Nicknamed the "Sleeping Prince," Prince Al-Waleed turned 36 on April 18, though he has remained unconscious since the incident.

He has been receiving round-the-clock care at King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh, sustained by mechanical ventilation and a feeding tube.

According to Roya News, minimal signs of movement were last observed in 2019, when he showed limited gestures such as slightly moving his head or lifting a finger. However, these did not signify a return to consciousness.

Despite medical recommendations to discontinue life support, his father, Prince Khaled bin Talal Al Saud, insisted on continuing treatment.

He stated, "If God had wanted him to die in the accident, he would have been in his grave now."

Prince Al-Waleed is a great-grandson of King Abdulaziz Al Saud, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, and the grandson of Prince Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

While he is part of the royal lineage, he is not directly in line for the throne.