Page 359 - They Also Served

177
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed 1979.
The son of Sheikh Zayed, president of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was born in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi on 11th March 1961. As a teenager, his father sent him to Morocco to gain life experience where he worked, incognito, as a waiter, living alone and doing his own domestic chores. In a sentiment that will resonate with students the world over, he later reflected: ’There was a bowl of tabbouleh in the fridge, and I’d eat it every day until a kind of fungus grew on it’. The sheikh, universally known by his initials of MbZ, spent a term at Gordonstoun School before training at Sandhurst. Commissioned from SMC 19 in April 1979, he forged a lifelong friendship with fellow cadet Tengku Abdullah, who later became the king of Malaysia.
After additional training at the UAE Military Academy, he served in the armed forces both in the Presidential Guard and as a pilot with the UAE Air Force. However, his
353