RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Her mobile phone case said it all. It was not covered with sparkling rhinestones or cartoonish kitty cat faces. Just a photo of her beloved king reaching out and shaking her hand at a formal reception.
“He took it and held it, and asked me, ‘How are you?’” the middle-aged professional recalled fondly, imitating the late King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz’s slow-cadenced, masculine voice. “I love him.”