Saudi Protocol

In the majlis of one of the emirs of Bahrain, one of the great men of Iran entered, and after he had greeted the Emir he found no place to sit. He stood in the middle of the assembly, perplexed, and no one came forward to guide him to his place. Then Ibn Saud — who was a growing youth, not yet past the second decade of his life — was stirred by chivalry; he rose and made room for the great newcomer between himself and the man next to him in the Emir's majlis, and the guest thanked him for saving him from that predicament.

When Ibn Saud attained what he attained, he did not wish that incident, which had stuck in his mind as a youth, to be repeated in his own majlis — nor what used to happen in the majlises of the other Arab emirs. He therefore gathered the House of Saud together and gave them to understand that their station is preserved wherever they may sit, but that they must make way for his guests to sit in the first places, to his right or his left.

And thus the rule followed for the seating of the emirs of the royal family in His Majesty's presence requires that they sit in a place apart from the first places lying to the King's right and left; and the seating of the members of the royal family is according to age.