PARIS
\nDuring his trip to France to meet President Emmanuel Macron, Saudi Arabia\u00b4s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is staying at a lavish chateau dubbed \u201cthe world\u00b4s most expensive home\u201d when he purchased it in 2015.
\nThe Chateau Louis XIV in Louveciennes outside Paris is a new-build mansion intended to mimic the extravagant luxury of the nearby Versailles Palace, once the seat of the French royal family.
\nThe 7,000-square-metre property was bought by an undisclosed buyer in 2015 for 275 million euros ($300 million at the time), leading Fortune magazine to call it \u201cthe world\u00b4s most expensive home.\u201d
\nBin Salman, 36, was reported two years\u00b4 later by The New York Times to be the ultimate owner via a series of shell companies. Local government officials confirmed to AFP that the controversial heir to the Saudi throne was staying at the property ahead of his dinner with Macron later on Thursday.
\nReporters outside the perimeter wall saw security personnel in suits guarding the entrance and a large police presence, including half a dozen vehicles. Macron and bin Salman were set to meet at the more modest Elysee presidential palace later on Thursday for talks that critics in France view as inappropriate.
\nBin Salman was judged by US intelligence to have approved the gruesome murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. But after four years as an international pariah, the prince is being courted by Western leaders again as they urgently seek fresh energy supplies to replace lost Russian production.
\nIn a twist of history, the Chateau Louis XIV was built by Khashoggi\u00b4s cousin Emad Khashoggi who runs a luxury property development business in France. The chateau features a nightclub, a gold-leafed fountain, a cinema, as well as an underwater glass chamber in the moat that resembles a giant aquarium with white leather sofas. Photos on the website of Emad Khashoggi\u00b4s company, Cogemad, also show a wine cellar, although alcohol is strictly prohibited in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PARIS During his trip to France to meet President Emmanuel Macron, Saudi Arabia\u00b4s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is staying at a lavish chateau dubbed \u201cthe world\u00b4s most expensive home\u201d when he purchased it in 2015. The Chateau Louis XIV in Louveciennes outside Paris is a new-build mansion intended to mimic the extravagant luxury of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274430,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-274422","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n