In a report entitled "Settling Scores in the Qatari Ruling Family," French magazine Marianne revealed that the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad, had sentenced his cousin, the grandson of a former ruler of the emirate, to 25 years in prison due to his close ties with Saudi Arabia.

The magazine quoted a French man jailed Doha, Jean-Pierre Marongui as saying that in June, 2017 after the boycott was imposed on Qatar by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt, he witnessed about 20 of the ruling family members being held in prison Doha, including Talal Bin Abdul Aziz Al Thani, a cousin of Prince Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

According to the sources of the French magazine, Talal, the cousin of the Emir of Qatar, is accumulating debt, although he is very rich. His passport confirms that "the Sheikh is a member of the ruling Al-Thani family and the fifth in the Amiri Protocol to take over the throne.

"But in fact, Talal no longer belongs to the right branch of the Al Thani family", the reported added. "Prince Ahmed bin Ali al-Thani, his grandfather, took power in 1960 until 1972, but his cousin, Khalifa bin Hamad al-Thani, Tamim’s father, overthrew him."