Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia

Crown Prince of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Emblem of Saudi Arabia
Incumbent Muhammad bin Nayef since 29 April 2015
Style	His Royal Highness Sir
Residence	King’s Palace, Riyadh
Appointer	King of Saudi Arabia after the approval of the Allegiance Council
Inaugural holder	Saud 11 May 1933

The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia is the second most important position in Saudi Arabia, second to the king, and is his designated successor.

Currently, the Crown Prince assumes power with the approval of the Allegiance Commission after he is appointed by the king. This system was introduced to the country in the Abdullah Era. In the absence of the king, an order is issued to have the prince manage the affairs of the state until the king's return. The order changes the prince's title temporarily from the Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister to Vice Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques until the return of the king to the kingdom.

The last Crown prince of the Second Saudi State was Abdulaziz ibn Abdul Ramhan ibn Saud, who lost the title when his father lost his state to the House of Rashid in the 19th century. His father abdicated the pretended throne to him in 1900, and began his famous wars of conquest of what would become the third Saudi state. When had taken enough land to become recognized as a genuine Emir, he designated his eldest son Turki as his heir. When Turki died during the flu pandemic of 1919, his only child was still in utero, and Abdulaziz designated his second son Saud to be heir and that further succession would be brother to brother.

When the Unification of Saudi Arabia was complete in 1932, Abdulaziz had himself declared king, and a year later Saud was declared Crown Prince.

When the old king died in 1953, Saud became king and his brother Faisal, as planned was declared Crown Prince. Then things became somewhat complicated. The King and his heir began feuding over whether or not King Saud was competent or not. Feisal took the title "Prime Minister" for a while, and on occasion took over the government against the king's wishes. Saud fought back, and things came to a head in 1964, when Feisal deposed his brother and became king.

The next in Line, Prince Mohammed, was deemed unsuitable, and was de jure Crown Prince for a short time before he was deposed in favor of Prince Khalid in 1965.