The new cover of Vogue magazine showing a Saudi princess posing at the wheel of a red convertible sparked controversy in the conservative kingdom where several women’s rights activists have been arrested recently.
With this issue of its June issue, Vogue Arabia celebrates “avant-garde women in Saudi Arabia” and praises the societal reforms initiated by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
In September 2017, Ryad pledged to allow women to drive, setting a deadline of 24 June to lift the ban.
” In our country, some conservatives are afraid of change. (…) Personally, I support these changes with a lot of enthusiasm, “said Princess Hayfa bint Abdallah al-Saud magazine.
The photo, taken in the desert outside the city of Jeddah (west), shows the daughter of former King Abdullah wearing leather gloves and stiletto heels, and wearing a long white outfit and a veil letting appear a part of his hair.
But the image is not to the liking of women’s rights activists, angry after the arrest in May of at least 11 of theirs, mostly women known for fighting against the driving ban and the male guardianship system in Saudi Arabia.
At least four of them were released last week, but the fate of others remains unclear, according to Amnesty International.
Saudi pro-government media have called them “traitors”.
On social networks, the photo of the cover has been largely taken up, with the faces of the activists detained replacing that of the princess.
According to analysts, the recent crackdown on women’s rights activists reflects the limits of the reforms undertaken by the Crown Prince who recently made an international tour to re-image the ultra-conservative kingdom.
The Vogue Arabia issue also profiles two other Saudi “inspirations”, including women’s rights activist Manal al-Sharif and Saja Kamal, a female footballer working to establish the country’s first women’s team. .