Riyadh (Web Desk): Vogue Arabia has been criticised for its June cover featuring a Saudi princess to celebrate the “trailblazing women of Saudi Arabia”.
The magazine’s cover, unveiled on social media platforms, features Princess Hayfa Bint Abdullah Al Saud, daughter of the late King Abdullah, sitting in a vintage Mercedes convertible along with the caption “Driving Force”.
But the image was criticised by campaigners protesting at the arrests in May of at least 11 activists, mostly identified by rights groups as veteran women campaigners for the right to drive and to end Saudi’s male guardianship system.
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At least four of those activists were released last week, Amnesty International said, but the fate of the others remains unclear. Reports in state-backed media branded some of the detainees traitors and “agents of embassies”.
Many on social media posted the Vogue cover with images of the detained activists photoshopped over the princess’s face.
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