A young Saudi royal who spent months in British rehabilitation clinics died from a lethal mix of alcohol and party drugs in a Kensington hotel room, an inquest has concluded. The 29-year-old Prince Abdullah bin Fahad bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Jalawi al Saud was found fully clothed on the bathroom floor of his fifth-floor room at the Marriott Hotel in west London on November 25 last year.
An assistant coroner at Inner West London Coroner’s Court recorded a verdict of death by misadventure, ruling there was no evidence the prince intended to end his life. The medical cause of death was given as multi-drug ingestion after a post-mortem found he suffered a cardiac arrest brought on by the combination of substances in his system.
The prince, a descendant of King Salman’s great-great-grandfather, had checked into the £600-a-night hotel on November 19 for a one-week stay. His last confirmed sighting came the evening before his death, when CCTV captured him stepping outside to smoke a cigarette before returning to the hotel alone. The following day, a cleaner entered his locked room and found his body.
Hotel security staff and paramedics were summoned to the scene. Despite attempts to revive him, he was pronounced dead at the hotel.
A Toxicology Report Reveals a Deadly Mix
Testing revealed the scale of what the prince had consumed. His blood contained 222mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, nearly triple the 80mg legal drink-drive limit in England. The inquest heard that this level alone fell within a range that could potentially cause a coma.
On top of that, the young royal had potentially fatal levels of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), the substance commonly referred to as a “party drug,” in his system. Traces of cannabis were also present, alongside recreational amounts of alprazolam, commonly known as Xanax. Other anti-anxiety medicines were detected in therapeutic doses. The court heard that he had been struggling with the use of both alcohol and Xanax.
Months of Treatment Before His Death
In the months leading up to his death, the prince had sought help at two private clinics. In August last year, he was admitted as an inpatient to the prestigious Priory Clinic in Roehampton, south-west London, where weekly stays can reach £35,000. There, he received treatment to eliminate his dependence on alcohol, benzodiazepines and the anti-anxiety drug pregabalin.
Consultant psychiatrist Dr. Victoria Chamorro told the inquest the prince had responded positively to treatment, saying the detox had “proceeded without physical side effects.” She described him in a statement as a patient who was supportive and kind to those around him.
According to her account, the prince was assessed as showing symptoms of low mood and anxiety when he was admitted. By the time he was discharged, he was not considered to be at risk of suicide. He left the facility with a friend but subsequently failed to attend scheduled Zoom appointments, though Chamorro said there had been no concern for him and that he had responded well to treatment and finished his programme.
Following his discharge from the Priory, the prince continued treatment at Rainford Hall clinic in St. Helens, Merseyside, where private care costs £7,000 weekly. During his stay, he received treatment for an upper respiratory tract infection and subsequently recovered, leaving the facility on October 14.
Coroner Rules Out Third-Party Involvement
The post-mortem found that the prince did not have any acute or chronic illnesses, concluding that his cardiac arrest resulted directly from the combination of drugs and alcohol. Assistant Coroner Jean Harkin said she did not believe he had intended to take his own life.
In reaching that conclusion, Harkin noted that reports from both the Priory and Rainford Hall indicated there had been no concerns, that he had not told anyone he wanted to kill himself, and that no note was found in his room. There was also no evidence of third-party involvement, with CCTV footage clearly showing him alone the night before his death. Harkin offered her condolences to the prince’s family.
The prince has been described by those who knew him as a private member of the royal family who contributed quietly to charitable causes. The Saudi Royal Court issued an official statement on December 2 announcing his death, confirming he had passed away outside the kingdom. A funeral prayer was held at the Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque in Riyadh — a venue that typically hosts services for prominent figures — with Saudi media reporting that a large number of princes and officials were expected to attend to reflect the family’s unity.
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