Who is Saudi Arabia’s 'Sleeping Prince', and has he really woken up after a 20-year coma? Here’s the truth

The prince is the great-grandson of King Abdulaziz—founder of modern Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia’s Prince Al-Waleed bin Khaled bin Talal—widely referred to as the “Sleeping Prince”—remained in a coma two decades after a life-altering car crash, despite a misleading video circulating online claiming he had regained consciousness. The prince, who turned 36 on April 18, 2025, has been in a vegetative state since suffering a traumatic brain injury in a 2005 accident while studying at a military college in the United Kingdom.

Following his birthday, a video began trending on social media platforms, falsely claiming to show the royal awakening and being embraced by family members. “Prince Al-Waleed bin Khaled bin Talal of Saudi Arabia known as the ‘Sleeping Prince’who has been in a coma since a car accident in 2005 has finally woken up,” read a post on X (formerly Twitter), accompanied by a photo of the prince and a video clip of a man in hospital being greeted by relatives.

Although the photo did indeed depict Prince Al-Waleed, the video footage was misattributed. The clip in question actually showed Yazeed Mohamed Al-Rajhi, a prominent Saudi businessman and motorsport champion, recovering from injuries sustained during the Baja Jordan rally earlier this year.

The text embedded in the viral video read: “Sleeping Prince of Saudi Who hard accident 20 years ago and has been into coma has finally regained His life' all thanks to the father who refused to give up on him.” However, the person featured was not the royal but Al-Rajhi, who had suffered spinal fractures during a motorsport incident in April.

Prince Al-Waleed bin Khaled bin Talal of Saudi Arabia known as the Sleeping Prince who has been in a coma since a car accident in 2005 has finally woken up. #Iran#Nuclear#Gazapic.twitter.com/m1lfnmDZ1v

IMJA Lifestyle (@imjalifestyle) June 14, 2025

An official update shared by Yazeed Racing, Al-Rajhi’s rally team, stated on April 12: “They were transported to the hospital as a precautionary measure. Both are fully conscious and in stable condition and are currently undergoing the necessary medical examinations to ensure their well-being.”

In a subsequent medical update, the team confirmed: “Medical examinations have confirmed that champion Yazeed Al-Rajhi has sustained fractures in two vertebrae of his spine, while his co-driver Timo Gottschalk has suffered four spinal fractures.”

Footage from Al-Rajhi’s hospital recovery and subsequent discharge was widely circulated, and parts of it were erroneously edited alongside a photo of the comatose prince, fuelling the misinformation.

To date, there has been no official confirmation or medical report indicating that Prince Al-Waleed has regained consciousness. The son of billionaire Prince Khaled bin Talal, he has been kept on life support at King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh since the accident.

According to a report by The Times of India, doctors advised the prince’s family in 2015 to consider ending life support, but his father refused, maintaining faith in divine intervention. “If God had wanted him to die in the accident, he would have been in his grave now,” Prince Khaled had said.

In 2019, a video surfaced showing the prince appearing to lift his fingers or slightly move his head in response to a stimulus. However, no further medical progress has been reported since. The royal continues to receive nutrition through a feeding tube and remains under constant medical care.

On his birthday this year, well-wishers on X expressed hope and prayers for his recovery, though the online celebration was marred by the spread of false claims. The viral post and others like it prompted fact-checkers and social media users to clarify that the video did not show Prince Al-Waleed.

The prince, great-grandson of King Abdulaziz—founder of modern Saudi Arabia—remains one of the most high-profile cases of a prolonged coma in the Middle East.