Vogue Arabia has defended its use of a princess on its cover to mark “trailblazing women of Saudi Arabia”, after being accused of ignoring a crackdown on women’s rights activists.
The edition features Princess Hayfa Bint Abdullah Al Saud in the driving seat of a car.
A ban on women driving in the country is due to be lifted on June 24.
But almost a dozen women and their supporters who campaigned to end the ban have been arrested in recent weeks.
The magazine has been labelled “tone deaf” by critics because several of these activists remain in custody.
In a statement, Vogue Arabia editor-in-chief Manuel Arnaut defended the magazine’s editorial decisions.
He said the publication “highlights and discusses key issues related to womanhood in the Arab world” and said using Princess Hayfa “helped magnify” their message.
