Prince Alwaleed Emphatically Denies Ownership Of Diamond-Encrusted Mercedes Benz

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Prince Alwaleed

Reuters

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal does not and has absolutely never owned a diamond encrusted Mercedes Benz, says a statement from his investment firm, Kingdom Holdings.

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Pictures associating Alwaleed with a Mercedes-Benz SL 600 adorned with 300,000 Swarovski crystals hit the internet back in 2010. From then on his ownership of the car became kind of an urban legend.

Stories said he would charge people $1,000 just to touch it.

The rumor even caught on with some Middle Eastern media sources.

Well Alwaleed had it with that, and now the Prince would like to clarify that the car is and was not ever his.

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"The Private office of Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal would like to state officially that HRH Prince Alwaleed does not, and never has, owned or had any association with a 'diamond-encrusted Mercedes-Benz'" says the Kingdom Holdings release.

"We would like to put this popular myth to rest. Any entity with questions about the Mercedes pictured in these erroneous reports should contact Garson/D.A.D, which appears to have manufactured and displayed a crystal-encrusted Mercedes-Benz SL 600, adorned with 300,000 Swarovski crystals, at various auto shows in the U.S. several years ago."

Alwaleed has come under fire in the past from Forbes magazine for over-stating his wealth. If you believe that, then it's hard to believe he would deny owning a car that reportedly costs between $1 and $4 million.

Check out the car below:

mercedes sl swarovski crystal

AP Photo

Visitors look at a Mercedes-Benz SL-600 covered by Swarovski's 300,000 gold shadow crystal pieces, designed by Japanese automotive accessories company D.A.D at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, east of Tokyo, Japan, Friday, Jan. 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

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