In a letter published by "Wagze" News Agency last month, allegedly penned by Prince Turki from his self-imposed exile in Cairo, he urges the country's royal family to step down and flee before a military coup or a popular uprising overthrows the kingdom. "If we are wise, we must leave this country to its people, whose dislike for us is increasing," he says. "Do it today before tomorrow as long as the money we have is enough for us to live anywhere in the world, from Switzerland to Canada to Australia...we should not return as long as we are able to get out safely, we must take our familes and pull out."

The Saudi Press Agency printed an official denial on July 14, quoting Turki as saying that the letter "circulated by some media and internet sites was nonexistent and fabricated by enemy parties wishing to spread confusion and excitement." There exist only two links to the letter in Arabic, both found on the site "wagze.com", which announces itself as "al-Jazeera Neews Agency" on its home page (though it has no relation with the better-known al-Jazeera). There is no English translation, and the letter has not been picked up by any other news outlet. However, it has received extensive coverage on Press TV, an Iranian agency.

In the supposed letter, Turki gives an apocalyptic warning to the royals to escape before people "cut off our heads in streets." He warns also of the potential for a military uprising (a not uncommon fear among the royals, and the very reason for the National Guard's existence), saying "no one will attack us from outside but our armed forces will attack us." The vivid images have made a splash in the worldwide media, generating sensationalist commentary on the impending collapse of the Al Saud dynasty that reaches from the local press to Forbes (though Forbes did call into question the letter's authenticity).

Turki, the 28th son of King Abd al-Aziz, has always been something of a black sheep. One of the liberal "Free Princes", formed amid tensions in the early 1950s between King Saud and his brother Faysal, requesting political reforms and a more democratic form of constitution, he was later rehabilitated and brought back into the family fold. However, his scandalous marriage to Hindi, the daughter of a Moroccan immigrant and eccentric jailed during the 1969-70 arrests for disloyal activities, and the couple's subsequent notoriety, effectively took him out of the royal succession lineup. Turki was disciplined and forced to retire from public life. He now lives in a Cairo apartment.

Though known as something of a non-conformist, comments from Turki such as those found in the Wagze letter seem a little unexpected, if not over the top. He does not occupy the position of an exiled pretender to the throne, such as the Western-domiciled Pahlavis of Iran, who one would expect to agitate for change in the home country. Turki, though out of favor, is not known to be entirely incommunicado with the larger family, and there is no indication that his outlook has ever been so alarmist. Doubtless, he still hews to his earlier views on political reform, but the sense of urgency and impending tragedy found in the letter has not until now been so forcefully expressed.

On the other hand, such shocking imagery is more reminiscent of the mass leaflets faxed by the opposition decades ago, and the fact that the Western media now predictably churns out stories about the fall of the House of Saud, referencing books and articles now long out of print, bring about a sense of deja vu. Indeed, "Wagze" is an opposition newspaper, and the story might have no further interest, were it not for the Iranian angle.