Concerns arose about the health of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, 85, after staying 482 consecutive days in his palace in the desert city of Neom in the northwest of the kingdom, according to Business Insider newspaper.

Quoting several experts, Insider says, “The king has symptoms of pre-dementia,” while the true state of his health is a closely guarded secret.

Lawyers for the Saudi royal court had told the Washington Post at the time that the king “certainly does not suffer from dementia or any other type of mental disability”, after the newspaper claimed this in 2015.

And the king moved to Neom, a newly developed area on the Red Sea, in July 2020, a month after he underwent an operation in his gallbladder, and according to what the Saudi Press Agency “SPA” reported, the king “will spend some time for rest and relaxation.”

King Salman has presided over cabinet meetings via video conference since that time.

In turn, a prominent expert on Saudi politics at Princeton University, Bernard Haykal, told Insider: “The king is in NEOM because it is the safest and most difficult to reach,” adding that the Saudi authorities are very keen that he “continue his life,” referring to the Saudi monarch.

Insider stated that the king receives the best medical care, consisting of 12 doctors from the Cleveland Clinic Hospital, according to a person familiar with the matter.