Little time? At the end of the text there is a summary.

Whenever two governments have to reassure each other about how well they understand each other, there is often something wrong. This is how it has been for a few months between Morocco and Saudi Arabia. "Our diplomatic relations with the Gulf States are strong, especially with Saudi Arabia," Morocco's Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said in February. Saudi Arabia is satisfied with its longstanding relationship with Morocco on Tuesday, Abdullah bin Mohammed al-Al-Sheikh, chairman of the Shura Council, advises the Saudi King Salman.

But the kind words can not hide the fact that the relationship between the two monarchies has cooled significantly over the past two years. Like so much, that has something to do with the rise of Mohammed bin Salman to crown prince of Saudi Arabia.

When the heir to the throne - MBS - imposed a blockade on his neighbor Qatar in May 2017, he insisted that his Moroccan namesake, King Mohammed VI, join the boycott. After all, the two Sunni monarchies have always been in line for decades on major political issues - the fight against socialism and pan-Arabism, close ties to the US, resistance to Iran's influence in the Arab world.

King Salman waives summer vacation in Morocco

All the more surprising was it that King Mohammed announced two years ago that Morocco wanted to remain neutral in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Even more: In November 2017, the monarch even visited Sheikh Tamim, the Emir of Qatar. He also ordered food deliveries to the sealed-off dwarf state. While media in Qatar celebrated the guest from Morocco as the "first blockade runner", discontent arose in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia thwarted Morocco's bid to host the 2026 World Cup in June 2018. The ruling house in Riyadh not only publicly announced its support for the joint bid from Canada, the US and Mexico. It was also ensured that the majority of Arab states voted against Morocco's candidacy.

Then King Salman renounced last year on his traditional summer vacation in Morocco. Usually, the monarch spends several weeks on his 74-acre palace grounds near Tangier, accompanied by an entourage of a thousand servants. King Salman is expected to spend around one hundred million euros a year in Morocco - and thus alone provide around 1.5 percent of the annual tourist income in Morocco. But in 2018, the elderly king preferred to spend his summer vacation in his own country - in the newly built megaproject Neom on the Red Sea.

Taunts about the media

In October, when MBS got into trouble internationally for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Morocco's royal family, unlike most other Arab states, avoided assuring its support to the Crown Prince. In November, MBS toured the Arab world to collect solidarity statements. He made stops in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt and Mauritania - King Mohammed VI. did not want to receive him. The monarch had a tight schedule, later added Foreign Minister Bourita as an explanation.

Since the beginning of the year, tensions between Rabat and Riyadh have intensified once again. In January, Foreign Minister Bourita announced that Morocco had virtually ended its military involvement in the Saudi Arabia-led war in Yemen. That's what he made known in an interview with Al Jazeera. The news channel is located in Doha and is considered by Saudi Arabia as an enemy transmitter. MBS has made the closure of the station a condition for ending the blockade against Qatar.

Again it was not long before the royal house of Saud returned the favor - also via the media. The Saudi Arabia-funded television station al-Arabiya broadcast a documentary that questioned Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara. The film called the desert territory "occupied territory" and allowed the Western Saharan Liberation Organization Polisario to speak.

Rabat ordered ambassadors back

For Rabat an absurdity: Morocco regards the Western Sahara since 1975 as Moroccan territory - a claim that has been recognized by Saudi Arabia so far.

A week later, Rabat ordered back his ambassador from Riyadh. Officially for consultations on diplomatic relations between Morocco and Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, the diplomat has returned to Riyadh. But until the relations between the two royal houses are as good as they once were, much more time will pass. The relationship with Morocco has thus become an example of how Kronprinz MBS with its impulsive policy, and well-meaning allies again and again offended.

In summary, relations between the royal houses in Morocco and Saudi Arabia are worse than ever. King Mohammed VI. does not participate in Saudi Arabia's blockade against Qatar and has largely ended its military involvement in the Yemen War. In the meantime, Rabat even ordered back his ambassador from Riyadh. The conflict is being staged, among other things, through the media and sports policy.