TYLER, TX (KLTV) – It’s official: Tyler is now a playground for Saudi royalty.
We found out about a Saudi prince’s visit to East Texas after a 737 bearing the country’s national symbol was spotted at the Tyler Jet Center.
Rumors were swirling about the Saudi royalty visit. “One I heard, he was here with friends, visiting the Rose Festival, said Carolyn Verver.
Verver works at the Jet Center and says the plane was sitting at the Aviation Museum when she got there Saturday morning.
Sources tell us the prince’s plane flew into Tyler Thursday night.
Turns out Prince Faisal bin Abdullah was in town to visit Dr. Kevin Pauza, “I can say that prince is a very dear friend of mine and he’ll be my lifelong friend and he enjoyed Tyler,” said Pauza.
Pauza is a leading spine researcher, something he credits with strengthening his relationship with His Royal Highness, “We have a passion for art, science, technology, so he wanted to come to my hometown to see what my hometown was like.”
The prince, who is also the Minister of Education for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, made a pit-stop at All Saints Episcopal School, where Pauza’s son is a student.
After taking off from Tyler the prince was headed to Morocco then home to Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.