Photograph of King Faisal, signed.

Black and white gelatin silver photograph, 195 x 137 mm. Mounted on card emblazoned with the blind-stamped arms of Saudi Arabia and further housed in matting. Signed in blue ink on lower margin of photograph. Signed just four years before his assassination: a formal black and white photograph of HH King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, with his signature below, dated in both Hijri and Gregorian calendars to the 23rd of December 1971 (6/11/1291). Tipped onto a card embossed with the arms of Saudi Arabia. - Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was a son of the first ruler of Saudi Arabia, HH King Abdulaziz. In 1964 he wrested control of the country from his elder brother HH King Saud in a bloodless coup, in which he was supported by the royal family and the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia. Saud went into exile, and Faisal was formally named king; he would rule Saudi Arabia for just over ten years, until he was shot by one of his nephews in 1975. His political life, however, spanned decades, starting when he was no older than thirteen, and his influence first as prince, then crown prince, and subsequently as king was immense. During his rule, Faisal was known both as religiously conservative and as a reformer, who brought Saudi Arabia further into the modern age. - Tipped onto card; in excellent condition.