The gilded reality of travelling the world on an Arab sheikh's three-month honeymoon
As I waited for my flight to Riyadh in a Heathrow Airport bar, nursing my last G&T for the foreseeable future, I was filled with both excitement and fear for my new job as a lady’s maid – travelling the world with an Arab sheikh and his wife on their three-month honeymoon. Over 10 weeks we had an itinerary covering 24 cities in 13 different countries.
I was hired to take care of the sheikha’s extensive wardrobe and accompany the couple on outings. Saudi Arabia, at this time, did not allow tourist visas, so ‘outsiders’ rarely got a glimpse inside the Kingdom. A recruitment agent contacted me about this unique role and it seemed too good an opportunity to turn down. The chance to travel the world, stay in five-star hotels and be paid for it? I didn’t need much persuading.
I spent most of the flight fretting about when to don my new abaya – the long-sleeved, high-necked, ankle-grazing black dress, obligatory for all Arabic women in Saudi Arabia as a sign of modesty and to express their Muslim faith. Female visitors, up until 2019, were required to follow suit. Most women were wearing veils (niqabs) over their face toowith only their eyes on show, so I felt somewhat naked with my face exposed.
A car collected me from King Khalid International Airport and I was driven to a hotel on Olaya Road, my home for the next two weeks. After the excitement of arriving, I started to feel anxious about being there alone. The sheikha wasn’t yet in Saudi when I arrived, so I tried to make the most of an unexpected mini break in the Middle East. I walked to the shopping mall across the road and took the high-speed elevator (180km/hour) in the Kingdom Tower up to the 99th floor, and crossed the sky bridge to view the streets of Riyadh. The streets spanned out for miles, peppered with square buildings like dusty Lego bricks. I felt privileged to be there, wandering alone in Saudi Arabia as a semi-tourist.
A week went by and finally my new employer sent a car for me. At her palatial house I was ushered into a dressing room full of designer clothes. She wanted me to select outfits for her to wear for each location. I felt overwhelmed. My previous work as a lady’s maid had been within the British royal household where the luggage was always fairly minimal and manageable. Packing light was not the Saudi way. My task was made more complicated by the itinerary, which included Venice and Russia in winter, but also Bali and Bangkok, which would be hot and humid. Casual clothes would be needed for sightseeing, but also dressier ensembles for more formal outings, such as lunch at the China Club in Hong Kong, or afternoon tea at The Peninsula in Tokyo.
After the wedding we flew through the night and arrived in Paris mid-morning; immediately, I had to get to work unpacking the sheikha’s things into her large suite at the George V hotel. The first thing I would do when entering a new suite was check how much wardrobe space there was. Even the most luxurious hotels in the world have limited capacity. I would always have to ask for portable clothing rails and at least 100 extra hangers. At each hotel, I also had to lay out my boss’s prayer mat in the correct position, which felt a rather mammoth responsibility. The sheikh showed me his iPhone app that enables you to find the direction of Mecca wherever you are in the world.
During the day I would accompany my employers on their outings and to restaurants, paying bills and carrying shopping. We toured the Sistine Chapel in Rome, went whale watching in Hawaii, and horse racing in Hong Kong.
Adjusting to different time zones became crazier on departing Japan on Christmas Eve for Hawaii. I couldn’t get my jet-lagged head around it. All I remember was having two Christmas Eves – one in Japan and one in Hawaii. We departed Tokyo on the evening of December 24, and with a flight of around eight hours and a time difference of 19 hours, we lived the same day twice. In hindsight, maybe I should have been paid overtime for this.
I was lucky with my Saudi employers – there weren’t any nightmares to haunt me, bar a couple of diamond dramas. The sheikha lost one large yellow diamond earring in Tokyo. I managed to track it down after searching through the photographer’s camera roll to find the moment she was pictured wearing only one earring – a department store where she had been trying on scarves. We called the store and incredibly they had found it on the floor.
It was a physically and mentally draining trip and I was on duty 24/7. The following itinerary was packed into less than three months: Riyadh–Paris–Monaco–Marrakech–Rome–Venice– Istanbul–Bangkok–Koh Samui–Bali–Hong Kong–Tokyo–Kyoto–Hawaii–San Francisco–Orlando– Miami–St Thomas–St Martin–Bahamas–Las Vegas–New York–London.
Looking back, I can’t believe how much luggage we transported around the world, especially considering much of the travel we did was on commercial flights (bar a couple of private jet jaunts in Europe). The sheikh and his wife in first class; myself in economy. The worst place to manage this was Venice – 24 suitcases in three water taxis – arriving late at night when there was only one poor doorman on duty at the Gritti Palace. I like organising clothes and travelling, but I can’t deny that when the last suitcase was zipped up on the final leg of the journey, I was relieved not to be opening another one for a while.