As allegations that Saudi Arabia's Bandar binSultan was paid $1bn (£506m) from Britain's biggest weapons contract reverberated around the world, the wily, flamboyant man was nowhere to be found. He dropped out of sight weeks before, sparking rumours he had taken refuge in his palatial home in Aspen, Colorado.

His reason for the low profile, according to diplomats, was that he was already in trouble with his boss, King Abdullah, having delivered diplomatic messages to the US that were not exactly in line with the monarch's wishes. It was only this week that the prince was finally spotted in Morocco. Around the same time, the Saudi media published its first words on the scandal alleged in the British press, and only to print the prince's passionate denial of any personal gain.