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Agence France-Presse

During his trip to France to meet President Emmanuel Macron, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is staying at a lavish chateau dubbed “the world’s most expensive home” when he bought it in 2015.
The Chateau Louis XIV in Louveciennes outside Paris is a new-build mansion intended to mimic the extravagant luxury of the nearby Versailles Palace, once the seat of the French royal family.
The 7,000-square-metre property was bought by an undisclosed buyer in 2015 for 275 million euros (US$300 million at the time), leading Fortune magazine to call it “the world’s most expensive home.”
Bin Salman, 36, was reported two years’ later by The New York Times to be the ultimate owner via a series of shell companies.
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Local government officials confirmed that the controversial heir to the Saudi throne was staying at the property ahead of his dinner with Macron later on Thursday.
Reporters outside the perimeter wall saw security personnel in suits guarding the entrance and a large police presence, including half a dozen vehicles.
Macron and bin Salman were set to meet at the more modest Elysee presidential palace later Thursday for talks that critics in France view as inappropriate.
Bin Salman was judged by US intelligence to have approved the gruesome murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
But after four years as an international pariah, the prince is being courted by Western leaders again as they urgently seek fresh energy supplies to replace lost Russian production.
Khashoggi’s fiancée on Thursday expressed outrage at Macron’s decision to host bin Salman for talks.
“I am scandalised and outraged that Emmanuel Macron is receiving with all the honours the executioner of my fiancé, Jamal Khashoggi,” Hatice Cengiz said.

In a twist of history, the Chateau Louis XIV was built by Khashoggi’s cousin Emad Khashoggi who runs a luxury property development business in France.
The chateau features a nightclub, a gold-leafed fountain, a cinema, as well as an underwater glass chamber in the moat that resembles a giant aquarium with white leather sofas.
Photos on the website of Emad Khashoggi’s company, Cogemad, also show a wine cellar, although alcohol is strictly prohibited in Saudi Arabia.
Chateau Louis XIV was built in 2009 after a 19th-century castle on the plot was bulldozed.

Bin Salman’s extravagant spending since emerging as the main power broker in Saudi Arabia has repeatedly made headlines.
The son of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud bought a US$500-million yacht in 2015 and was also reported to be the mystery buyer of a US$450-million Leonardo da Vinci painting in 2017.
The latter purchase has been officially denied.


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France

Saudi crown prince stays in ‘world’s most expensive home’ ahead of Macron meeting

Chateau Louis XIV was built in 2009 after a 19th-century castle on the plot was bulldozed. File photo: AFP

French police officers stand guard outside the Chateau Louis XIV mansion belonging to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Louveciennes on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Photo: Saudi Royal Palace via AP

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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (right) bumps fists with US President Joe Biden in Jeddah on July 15. Photo: Saudi Royal Palace/AFP

US President Joe Biden (fifth from left) with Arab leaders at the Jeddah Security and Development Summit in Saudi Arabia on July 16. Photo: Saudi Royal Court/EPA-EFE

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Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Buenos Aires in November 2018. Photo: AFP

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomes US President Joe Biden to Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah on July 15. Photo: Saudi Royal Palace via AP

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Mohammed bin Salman owns the 7,000sqm Chateau Louis XIV mansion which has a nightclub, a gold-leafed fountain and a cinema
The French president and the monarch were set to meet for talks that critics view as inappropriate


Mohammed bin Salman owns the 7,000sqm Chateau Louis XIV mansion which has a nightclub, a gold-leafed fountain and a cinema.


Saudi crown prince stays in ‘world’s most expensive home’ ahead of Macron meeting

Mohammed bin Salman owns the 7,000sqm Chateau Louis XIV mansion which has a nightclub, a gold-leafed fountain and a cinema The French president and the monarch were set to meet for talks that critics view as inappropriate

Mohammed bin Salman owns the 7,000sqm Chateau Louis XIV mansion which has a nightclub, a gold-leafed fountain and a cinema

The French president and the monarch were set to meet for talks that critics view as inappropriate