Vogue Arabia cover featuring Saudi Princess sparks furore on social media

The June edition of Vogue Arabia's cover, which features a Saudi princess in the driver's seat of a red convertible, has sparked a huge uproar on social media as the country is yet to lift the driving ban on women.

The magazine cover features Princess Hayfa bint Abdullah Al Saud in the driving seat of a car while many women activists and their supporters who campaigned to end the ban were arrested a few weeks ago. The daughter of late King Abdullah is seen posing behind the wheel wearing leather gloves and high heels.

Hence the critics accused the magazine of being "tone deaf" as the women in the country are still fighting to end the ban on the female drivers. According to BBC, the driving ban on women is due to be lifted on June 24.

While many social media users highly criticised the magazine cover, the editor-in-chief Manuel Arnaut has supported the editorial decisions as he said in a statement that the June edition is purposed to highlight and discuss the key issues regarding the womanhood in the Arab world. And, also featuring Princess Hayfa in the magazine helped them to magnify their message.

In the magazine, Princess Hayfa was quoted saying, "In our country, there are some conservatives who fear change. For many, it's all they have known. Personally, I support these changes with great enthusiasm."

Speaking to BBC, the magazine editor Arnaut said, "Informing and initiating healthy debates around meaningful topics are a priority for us, and we therefore decided to emphasise this with an iconic and powerful image that is completely fulfilling its purpose: bring focus to the region and to the role of women in Saudi society."

Many took to Twitter to post the picture of the Vogue magazine cover photo while photoshopping the image of the activists, who were arrested, over the princess's face.

One wrote on twitter: "After @VogueAlArabiya thought it'd make sense to feature HRH in June 2018 issue on "trailblazing women of #Saudi Arabia" & their driving, Saudi women have taken to Twitter to object & replaced her image with 3 of arrested activists labeled as "traitors": Aziza, Loujain, & Eman."

A second user tweeted: "Let's put a princess who never struggled from the driving ban on the cover. Who her family issued the driving ban in the first place, put so many women in jail for driving, and just imprisoned prominent women's rights activists who risked their life and freedom to lift the ban."