Princess Sultana's Circle

PRINCESS SULTANA’S
CIRCLE
Book III in the Princess Trilogy

Jean Sasson

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Published by:

Jean Sasson at Smashwords

Copyright (c) 2011 by Jean Sasson

Front Cover Model’s Photograph by Marco
Baldi for Studio Babaldi

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All rights reserved. Without limiting the
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Notes

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Jean Sasson is the sharp-eyed and compassionate chronicler
of women’s lives in the Muslim world. Author of the worldwide
bestsellers
Princess
,
Daughters of Arabia
,
Desert Royal
,
Mayada: Daughter of Iraq
,
Love in a Torn Land
and
Growing up Bin Laden
, she lived in Saudi Arabia for twelve
years, and has travelled throughout the Middle East for thirty
years. She currently makes her home in the southern United
States.

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For more
information on Jean Sasson and her books, see her website at
www.jeansasson.com

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ALSO
BY JEAN SASSON

NON-FICTION

The Rape of
Kuwait

Princess: A True
Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia

Princess
Sultana’s Daughters (Daughters of Arabia)

Princess
Sultana’s Circle (Desert Royal)

Mayada, Daughter
of Iraq

Love in a Torn
Land: One Woman’s Daring Escape from Saddam’s Poison Gas Attacks On
the Kurdish People of Iraq

Growing up Bin
Laden: Osama’s Wife and Son Take Us Inside Their Secret
World

HISTORICAL
FICTION

Ester’s
Child

--

For more
information on Jean Sasson and her books, see her website
at:

www.jeansasson.com

****

This book is dedicated to
all the young girls and women in the world.

May you have the right to
live your life in dignity.

And, a personal dedication
from me, to our precious Kayleigh Brooke

Books by Jean
Sasson

The Rape of
Kuwait

Princess: A True Story of
Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia

Princess Sultana’s
Daughters (
UK title:
Daughters of Arabia)

Princess Sultana’s Circle
(
UK title:
Desert
Royal)

Mayada, Daughter of
Iraq
:
One Woman’s
Survival Under Saddam Hussein

Love in a Torn Land: One
Woman’s Daring Escape from Iraq

Growing Up Bin Laden:
Osama’s Wife and Son Take us Inside Their Secret World

For the Love of a Son: One
Afghan Woman’s Quest for her Stolen Child

Ester’s Child

Princess Sultana’s
Circle
is a true story. For the personal
safety of the people featured in this book, names have been changed
and various events have been slightly altered.

By revealing these true
life stories, neither the Princess nor the author intend to demean
the rich and meaningful Islamic religion, of which the princess is
a member.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to those
wonderful people who must go unnamed, yet have assisted me so that
I might continue telling the significant and wonderful story of a
very unique Princess.

Update from Jean
Sasson

The world as we know it was
utterly changed on September 11, 2001. Few people were left
untouched by the carnage brought against so many by so few. That
eventful day even provoked military action. The haunting images of
the war against terrorism were often tragic while others were
uplifting, and none more so than the endearing smiles on the faces
of the previously burqa clad women and girls of Afghanistan.
Although our purposeful military mission was to seek justice and to
stop suicide bombers from future odious acts, I have always
believed that the emancipation of women is a freedom worth fighting
for. A great imbalance is created in the world when women are
treated as liabilities, as they are in many countries.

As the Afghani women
celebrated, I rejoiced with them. As I listened to First Lady Laura
Bush’s now famous radio broadcast about these women, I waited in
anticipation, hoping that some golden words of hope would be cast
to women in other countries. Consider the fact that women in Saudi
Arabia are forbidden to drive or to participate in public life, or
that newborn females have their spines snapped in India, or the
outrage that men are acquitted for killing women who are raped in
Pakistan, or that young girls are routinely forced into
prostitution in Thailand.

I spoke with Princess
Sultana during that time and was not surprised when I learned that
she, too, was hoping that the great victory for women in
Afghanistan would magically sweep her world. She, as I, was
disheartened when she saw that the time had not yet come when every
democratic government will do the responsible thing and proclaim
that freedom is just as important for women, as it is for men.
Surely, the world now knows that what imperils women, imperils the
world.

Tragically, after the
passing of nine years, the situation for women in Afghanistan is
little better. The presence of the American military has done
little to foster humanitarian rights for women. Young girls of age
8 are still wed to men of 30 or 40 years. There has been an
increase in suicides of Afghan girls and women with most choosing
to set themselves on fire. As far as I know, the Afghan government
has not made one effort to help their own women. The future looks
bleak for females in Afghanistan.

Shame on the American
government and shame on the Afghan government for not making this
most important issue a priority.

I felt so strongly about
the plight of Afghan women that I took nearly two years out of my
life to write the story of Maryam Khail, an Afghan woman who grew
up in Afghanistan and escaped after the invasion of the Russians.
Sadly, Maryam became a victim of her husband, and in the process
lost her son. Princess Sultana told me that when she read Maryam’s
story that her heart plunged in fear that a thousand years from now
most men will still not care about the plight of women. From now
on, the princess is including Afghan girls in her charity
work.

The princess and I hope
that readers will read
Maryam’s story in
For the Love of a Son: One Afghan Woman’s Quest for her Stolen
Child.

The princess and I thank
you for your support. I am hopeful that you will learn a lot from
this latest book about Princess Sultana and her family. We would
like to tell you that a full chapter will be added to this book
sometime during the next year, a chapter that will update you on
the life of Princess Sultana, her three children, and now, her two
grandchildren. We also hope that you will join our “Circle of
Women,” an organization finally to be formed in September
2012.

For additional information
about Jean Sasson and her books, and updates on Princess Sultana,
women’s issues, and the Middle East, please visit the author’s
website:
www.JeanSasson.com

You can also check out
Jean’s blog at
http://jeansasson.wordpress.com/
or write to Jean Sasson directly at
[email protected].

Preface

On September 7, 1978, I
traveled to Saudi Arabia with the idea that I would live and work
in the country for only a few years, but I remained in Riyadh, the
capital of that desert kingdom, until the spring of
1992.

In 1983, I met Sultana Al
Sa’ud, a royal princess. This delightful woman exercised upon me a
fascination that has not left me since.

I had worked at the King
Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre for four years.
During that time, I had met various members of the large Saudi
royal family and had made the sad discovery that on the whole they
were spoiled and self-absorbed. Most could see no further than the
monarchy and all its trappings.

However, Sultana was unlike
any royal I had met.

Sultana was young and
beautiful. Her dark hair fell over her shoulders and her eyes
sparkled with curiosity. Her lips frequently opened wide in
spontaneous laughter. Dressed in expensive clothes and decorated
with eye-catching jewels, Sultana captured the undivided attention
of everyone around her.

Beyond her obvious beauty
and charm, I had expected this royal to be like every other
princess I had met, but I was both surprised and pleased to learn
that Sultana was a woman with an independent mind who seemed to
hunger to bring change to the lives of women in Saudi Arabia.
Although she had been raised to the privileges of the enormously
wealthy ruling family of Saudi Arabia, she made no effort to
conceal that where issues regarding women were involved, she was in
a rebellion against the traditions and customs of her own
country.

As our friendship slowly
developed, I came to know a woman of great strength of will and
character. Although her judgment and conduct is often clouded with
passion, frequently creating emotional situations unexpected among
adults, it is easy to overlook such behavior, for Sultana is
selfless, caring and sensitive when it comes to other women. When
Sultana discovers any injustice against another woman she springs
into action, regardless of any personal danger to
herself.

When Sultana confided to me
that she had conceived many plans to make the tragic stories of
Saudi women known to the world, but had never been free to do so
because of the danger it would attract to her immediate family and
herself, I agreed to help her make her wish come true. Together, we
would bring these horrifying and unbelievable true stories to the
world’s attention.

And so, protecting her
anonymity, I became the voice for a princess.

In the book,
Princess
, the world first
learned of Sultana’s life as an unwanted daughter of a cruel man in
an unforgiving society that places little value on females.
Sultana’s most beloved sister, Sara, was married against her will
to a much older man whom she did not know nor love. From the time
of her wedding, Sara was subjected to terrible sexual assaults by
her husband. Only after Sara attempted suicide would her father
allow her to seek a divorce and return home.