Driving the Saudis

An Upstairs, Downstairs, true-life fable for our global times, this memoir tells the funny and surprising tale of weeks spent as chauffeur to the Saudi royal family during one decadent Beverly Hills vacation.

The true-to-life account of a female chauffeur hired to drive the Saudi royal family in Los Angeles

After more than a decade of working in Hollywood, actress Jayne Amelia Larson found herself out of luck, out of work, and out of prospects.

When she got hired to drive for the Saudi royal family vaca­tioning in Beverly Hills, Larson thought she’d been handed the golden ticket. She’d heard stories of the Saudis bestowing $20,000 tips and Rolex watches on their drivers, but when the family arrived at LAX with twenty million dollars in cash, Larson realized that she might be in for the ride of her life.

With awestruck humor and deep compassion, Larson shares the incredible insights she gained as the lone female in a detail of more than forty chauffeurs assigned to drive a beautiful Saudi princess, her family, and their extensive entourage.

At its heart, this is an upstairs-downstairs, true-to-life fable for our global times; a story about the corruption that nearly infinite wealth causes, and about what we all do for money. Equal parts funny, surprising, and insightful, Driving the Saudis provides both entertainment and sharp social commentary on one of the world’s most secretive families.