Forget the beach closure that got everyone's speedos in a wad last month: The Saudi royal family left the French Riviera with $4 million in unpaid medical bills.
The figure emerged after the Saudi king decided to cut his three week vacation short, leaving after just eight days. It seems the royal family enjoyed the French Riviera, but the protests not so much. Although granted, Saudi sources said the early departure to Morocco had nothing to do with the locals' frustration.
French citizens were angered by the privatization of a large stretch of public beach for the king's visit. The privatization involved constructing a fence and cement barriers. The coast guard also planned to stop anyone coming within 300 meters of the royal family's villa.
Following the departure of the king and his entourage, French celebrity doctor Patrick Pelloux tweeted about the unpaid medical bills.
"Before the King of Saudi Arabia left he could have paid his 3.7 million euros of bills to the Hospital of Paris as a polite gesture."
According to The Independent, the hospital confirmed the figure and went on to point out its backlog of unpaid bills for foreigners totaled 118.6 million euros ($129.2 million) at the end of last year.
So will Saudi pay up?
Well, perhaps but it isn't likely any French official will be asking the royal family to settle its accounts anytime soon. With the French government more interested in ensuring it gets paid billions for weapons – last year Riyadh and Paris signed a deal worth nearly $12 billion – it seems unlikely it's going to be a stickler over a small handful of millions.
Although the medical bills may remain unpaid, hotel owners and other vendors in the area of the king's villa expressed their pleasure with the spending of the royal family during the short visit.
It seems you please some and displease others. Such is the heavy burden a king must bear.
Our one question: How often does this royal family visit the freaking hospital? Averaging half a million dollars a day in medical bills is no small feat.