Deputy crown prince

Deputy crown prince is a royal political position, being the third man in the state. The holder of the position becomes crown prince in the event of the absence of the crown prince, and the king of the country in the event of vacant posts of the King and the Crown Prince at the same time. The position is known in Saudi Arabia, as a key position. There are also other designations, such as the Second Deputy Premier, Second Deputy Prime Minister and Mandate of the mandate of the Covenant.

Saudi Arabia

Deputy Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia

The honorific title of "Deputy Crown Prince" only dates from 2014, but the position, under the title of "Second Deputy Prime Minister" goes back to 1965, in order to designate who was the senior prince not excluded from the throne. By late 1964, it became obvious to those at court that Crown Prince Mohammed was not suitable for the throne and that King Faisal wanted to also bypass the next three in line and install Prince Fahd to be his heir. However, a faction loyal to the soon-to-be-out Crown Prince wouldn't have it, so as a compromise, Prince Khalid, who was considered a nonentity, would be next in line; princes Saad and Nasir, who had no qualifications aside from seniority, would be skipped as planned, and that Fahd would take the title of "Second Deputy Prime Minister" to cement his place as second in line.

When King Faisal was murdered in 1975, King Khalid designated Prince Abdullah, who was next in line anyway, as second deputy.

As King Khalid became ill with old age, the question of who would succeed Abdullah as Second Deputy became more pressing. Prince Musa'id, whose son had murdered King Faisal, long knew he was out and Prince Bandar demanded and got, a huge bribe to stand down. Prince Sultan, despite opposition, was appointed when the old king died.

Once a Prince's place was cemented in the line of succession, he was impossible to remove. Prince Sultan attempted a coup against Crown Prince Abdullah, who was regent for the ailing King Fahd, in 1995, and he remained in place until he became Crown Prince in 2005. Competition for the position became intense when Fahd, then Sultan died a few years later, then Crown Prince Nayif less than a year after that. The youngest brother of all, Muqrin, became second deputy in 2013, and received the honorific "deputy crown prince" a year later.

With the internal politics of the House of Saud being "clear as mud" the seniority system came to an end when scores of grandsons were bypassed in favor of Muhammad bin Nayef.

Deputy Crown Princes of Saudi Arabia (2014–present)

Name	Lifespan	Reign start	Reign end	Notes	Family	Image
Muqrin مقرن	15 September 1945	27 March 2014	23 January 2015 (became Crown Prince.)	Son of Ibn Saud and Baraka Al Yamaniyah	Saud
Muhammad bin Nayef محمد بن نايف	30 August 1959	23 January 2015	29 April 2015 (became Crown Prince.)	Son of Nayef bin Abdulaziz and Al Jawhara bint Abdulaziz bin Musaed bin Jiluwi Al Saud Grandson of Ibn Saud and Hassa bint Ahmed Al Sudairi	Saud
Mohammad bin Salman محمد بن سلمان	1985 (age 29–30)	29 April 2015	Incumbent	Son of King Salman and Fahda bint Falah bin Sultan Al Hithalayn	Saud