Saudi Arabia Princess flees after attack on workman

The daughter of King Salman of Saudi Arabia has fled Paris. Photo / AP

The daughter of King Salman of Saudi Arabia has fled Paris after allegedly instructing one of her bodyguards to murder a painter and decorator, it was claimed.

Princess Hassa, 42, has pleaded diplomatic immunity against prosecution after telling the armed aide: "You have to kill this dog, he doesn't deserve to live."

But the bodyguard, who has not been named, was arrested and appeared before an instructing judge.

He was put under formal criminal investigation for a range of charges including violence with a firearm, kidnapping, and assisted kidnapping. The bodyguard is likely to face a criminal trial. He is said to have attacked the unnamed 53-year-old workman on September 26, after the Princess told the Frenchman to kiss her feet, and then issued the threat. But Elie Hatem, the bodyguard's barrister, disputes this version of events

Le Point magazine, which broke the story, says she is the 42-year-old "only daughter" of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

During questioning by the judge, the bodyguard said he done the "minimum necessary" to "restrain" the workman after the Princess caught him taking pictures. He was accused of wanted to sell the images of the inside of the flat in Avenue Foch to the media. In turn, judicial police said it was perfectly normal for painters and decorators to take pictures on their smart phones during jobs.

The Princess is said to have ordered her bodyguard to beat the Frenchman up, tie his hands and feet together, and then kiss her feet. After a four-hour ordeal, the workman was kicked out and told to "never return". Later he asked for the equivalent of some 16,000 for work done, and for the return of his tools.