Recently, there was an exceptional appointment in Saudi Arabia. Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud was designated as the new Saudi Arabian ambassador to United States. In particular, it was a surprise as there was no precedence of appointing a woman as an ambassador by Saudi Arabia. Let us figure it out who she is and why she became the first woman ambassador to the U.S.

Born as a royal of Saudi Arabia, she spent her teenage years in the United States. After obtaining her doctorate in the U.S., she started to make various efforts to improve the rights of women in Saudi Arabia. She has activated sports in Saudi Arabia as she became a key executive of the General Sports Authority by including physical education for girls in the curriculum of schools. In addition, she revised the law in order to encourage women to work in the retail industry (which was unavailable for women before the revision) and introduced childcare services in their work places. As a result, many women could engage in economic activities. Not only has she made great contributions in enhancing women’s rights in Saudi Arabia, but she has also shown outstanding performance in her private business by launching her own luxury brand, Baraboux.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced that she was appointed as the new ambassador to the United States in recognition of her contributions. This is a special appointment in Saudi Arabia, given that most of the ambassadors are men. Nevertheless, many say that it is an attempt to rectify diplomatic relations with the United States, which was damaged by the death of Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi. He was a disobedient journalist in Saudi Arabia, who continued to criticize the corruptions in the kingdom. However, as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman was pointed to as the murderer of him, there was a big diplomatic conflict between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. For this reason, many media analyzed it as the Saudis’ attempt to improve its national image and diplomatic relations by appointing Princess Lima, who was the symbol of innovation in the Saudi kingdom.