Saudi crown prince to meet Oprah in charm offensive: Leaked itinerary shows

Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammad bin Salman, who is on a two-week-long tour of the US, will meet media mogul Oprah Winfrey, if the leaked copy of his itinerary is anything to go by.

The 36-page leaked document was obtained by the Independent and it "sheds light on the full extent of the heir to the throne's American charm offensive." The 32-year-old powerful prince in a bid to reach American people will meet Winfrey in Los Angeles at the end of his tour.

"Saudi Arabia has always had a public image problem in the West because of the obvious things like women's rights and beheadings," Nader Hashemi, director of the Centre for Middle East Studies at the University of Denver's Josef Korbel School of International Studies, told the UK daily.

"When you meet with Oprah, even if you're not going to be interviewed, you're seeking the approval of an opinion maker. You're going into people's homes and reaching deep into American culture," Hashemi added.

The crown prince met US president Donald Trump on his arrival in Washington D.C. March 19. He then traveled to Boston and is currently in New York. Other cities he is expected to visit include Houston, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

During his visit to different cities, he is also scheduled to meet America's biggest and most influential people. In New York, he is expected to meet with former president Bill Clinton and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, New York state senator Chuck Schumer, UN secretary general Antonio Guterres and businessman and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg.

He is scheduled to meet former US president Barack Obama, former US secretary of state John Kerry and Condoleezza Rice and former director of the CIA David Petraeus. The crown prince will also meet Bill Gates, Tim Cook, Elon Musk, CEOs of Amazon, Uber and the Walt Disney Company.