Timothy Landon

Sultanate of Oman. He was one of Britain's wealthiest people. He was widely suspected to have been involved in a significant affair with Qaboos bin Said, whom he helped install as his father's successor to the Sultanate

.

Early life

Born to a British

10th Hussars

.

Time in Oman

With his regiment, he travelled overland from Europe to

Muscat

. There he became an integral part of the British-aided coup to remove the old Sultan, whose style of rule – which was all but preventing the country's modernisation – was feeding the flames of the Dhofar insurgency that was poised to spread the length of Oman and threaten the Straits of Hormuz, and subsequently much of the West's oil supply.

Landon, who was close to the Sultan's son

bloodless coup was the old Sultan's foot when he inadvertently shot himself.^{[citation needed]} The deposed ruler was flown to London on an RAF transport aircraft. ^{[citation needed]} He ended up living in a suite at the Dorchester hotel until his death in 1972. When asked once what was his greatest regret, the old man replied: "Not having had Landon shot."^[1]

Over the next fifteen years, the young officer helped his friends develop the Sultanate from a non-industrial, agrarian economy into a modern 20th-century state.

Omanisation

" of the economy and government.

Later projects

By 1979, Landon's position as an adviser had become a

Farnborough

, the nearest airport to his home.

Financial interests, philanthropy, and controversy

Landon invested the money he had made during his time in Oman, diversifying his wealth into mineral exploration and farming in Africa, property and real estate investments in Europe and America, and a wide range of financial portfolios in global markets. His fortune was estimated at US$750 million or higher. Landon was known to be a patron of the arts and society as well as an avid conservationist, generously assisting with fundraising for foundations and charities.

Landon also played an important role as intermediary in several questionable deals like when giant telecom company Ericsson sold telecommunications equipment to Oman in the late 1990s. The connection was revealed by a joint investigation into Landon's business by the Swedish Public Television "Uppdrag granskning" and Swedish Public Radio's "Dagens Eko" in January 2007.

Landon was also behind another questionable deal when in 1999 Swedish jetfighter

Mensdorff-Pouilly, a longtime agent for BAE and a first cousin of Landon's wife Princess Katalina Esterházy de Galántha. Mensdorff-Pouilly received secret commission contract of at least 81 million Swedish crowns for the final deal in 2003 when the Czech Republic

leased Gripen jetfighter.

Both the Ericsson Oman deal and the SAAB/BAE deal has been the focus of several police and parliamentary investigations. By 2008 investigations had opened in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden, Great Britain, United States, Switzerland, and Austria.^[2]^{[failed verification]}

Tim Landon was also involved in the smuggling of a Bofors cannon to the sultanate of Oman in the 1980s. "Sultan Quaboos of Oman got it into his head that his security would be enhanced if his yacht was kitted out with the Bofors guns. He wanted the Bofors guns and the government in Sweden objected to this deal, and this is where Landon and his associates always came into play. If something was denied them by diplomatic channels they would take the scenic route."^[3]

Family and legacy

In 1977 Tim Landon married Princess Katalina Marie Therese Antoinette

Habsburg Dynasty. The marriage produced a son, Arthur Landon, who studied film production and has begun to be involved in his family business affairs in recent years. Arthur is, according to the Sunday Times Rich List, the wealthiest young person in Britain, with an inherited fortune of £200 million, and is "a close friend of the royal princes, William and Harry".^[4]

References

^ Daily Telegraph obituary 12 July 2007
^ See "Uppdrag granskning" 20070220, 20070227 and 20080116 www.svt.se
^ Interview with author John Besant "Uppdrag granskning" and "Dagens Eko" 20080116.
^ Times Rich List