Deputy King Prince Mohammed bin Salman issued two royal decrees on Saturday appointing Prince Khaled bin Salman as the Kingdom’s deputy defense minister and Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan as Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States.
A separate royal decree ordered a one-month salary bonus for frontline military officials on the kingdom's southern border.
Earlier in the day, Saudi King Salman issued a royal order deputizing Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman “to steer the state’s affairs” throughout the period of the King’s absence during his visit to Egypt to take part in the first joint Arab League-European Union summit.
Becoming the first woman ambassador in the Kingdom's history, Princess Reema replaced Prince Khalid bin Salman, the younger brother of the powerful crown prince.
Prince Khalid was appointed as Saudi ambassador to the United States of America on April 22, 2017. He presented his credentials to US President Donald Trump and took office on July 21, 2017.
He graduated from the King Faisal Air Academy in Riyadh and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF).
He received his initial training at Randolph Air Base in San Antonio, Texas, and received advanced training at the Columbus Air Base in Columbus, Mississippi. He also studied advanced electronic warfare in France.
Prior to his appointment as the Kingdom's ambassador to Washington, he served as an advisor at the Office of the Minister of Defense and then as an advisor to the Kingdom's embassy in Washington.
During his tenure as advisor at the Office of the Minister of Defense, he was appointed by HRH the Crown Prince with various portfolios and responsibilities.
Prince Khalid has been close to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for a long time, and has been able during this period to accommodate the vision of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to develop the Ministry of Defense to be in the ranks of developed countries militarily.
Before a back injury ended his flying career, Prince Khaled flew more than 50 combat missions as part of the international coalition campaign against Daesh in Syria and as part of Operations Decisive Storm and Renewal of Hope in Yemen.
As for the new envoy, she is the daughter of a former long-time ambassador to the United States.
Princess Reema had a career in the private sector before joining the kingdom’s General Sports Authority where she championed women’s participation in sports and focused on increasing women’s empowerment.
She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Mount Vernon College at George Washington University in the United States in 1999 and became the first woman to hold a multi-sport federation in the Kingdom through her position as President of the Saudi Federation for Community Sports.
Among her achievements is working alongside the Ministry of Education to establish sports education for girls in schools and the participation of women in many sports competitions.
She also played a great role in promoting awareness on breast cancer. She launched the 10ksa initiative, which was able to access the Guinness World Records after making the world's largest pink ribbon, which symbolizes the fight against breast cancer.
She has served as CEO of Alpha International / Harvey Nichols, as she entered the Fast Company of America magazine for the most creative people in 2014.
Princess Rima was chosen as 16th in the Forbes Middle East magazine for the 200 most powerful Arab women.
