Last week I wrote about the outraged caused by a beach closing on the French Riviera for a visit by the Saudi King.

The king brought along an entourage of around 1,000 people and even had some work done at his property.

These situation led to a petition being signed by over 100,000 people who were against the beach closure. And, who could blame them!

Well here is some great news.

The King of Saudi Arabia was supposed to stay at his villa on the French Riviera for around three weeks. However, things have changed.

According to Reuters, King Salman cut short his visit when he left for Morocco yesterday.

While some might think that his departure was due to the petition (now supposedly signed by over 150,000), “a Saudi source said this was part of his holiday program and had nothing to do with the media coverage that his visit had attracted“.

Along with the king leaving, around half of his entourage left too.

The Reuters article said that “king respected the French people and hoped his schedule next year would permit a visit to nearby Cannes“.

I just wonder if he plans to build elevators and have beaches closed for his visit next time? I’d also love to know if King Salman left early due to the negative attention and inconvenience his visit caused? If he really did plan to leave for Morocco when he did, why was it announched that he’d be staying for 3 weeks? Maybe I’m wrong, but I’d think many people would understand a beach closing for a few days for the king’s visit while a 3 week closure was a bit unreasonable.

Find out more about the story from Reuters here.