FIENDISH MYSTERY AT A GLANCE

SEPTEMBER 2017 - The Bezosowned Washington Post recruits exiled Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi. A series of columns highly critical of the Saudi regime follow

NOVEMBER 2017 - The Saudi Royal Guard buys Pegagus-3 spyware, specifically designed to infect phones through WhatsApp, from secretive Israeli firm NSO

APRIL 2018 - At a dinner in Los Angeles, Jeff Bezos and the Saudi crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman, swap phone numbers to communicate through WhatsApp

MAY 2018 - An encrypted video file is sent from the MBS number to Mr Bezos via WhatsApp. Within hours, Mr Bezos’ iPhone begins sending out gigabytes of data which it previously had not

OCTOBER 2018 - Mr Khashoggi is murdered by Saudi officials in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. (He is pictured, left, entering the building.) The Washington Post publishes ever-expanding revelations linking the crown prince to the killing. The UN has now concluded that Khashoggi was ‘the victim of a deliberate, execution …which the state of Saudi Arabia is responsible’

NOVEMBER 2018 - Unbeknown to the world, Mr Bezos has begun an affair with TV star Lauren Sanchez and is in early divorce negotiations with his wife of 25 years, MacKenzie. A single photo is sent from the MBS number to Bezos, hinting that the crown prince knows of the new relationship. Mrs Bezos’ settlement left her with £2 billion, making her the third richest woman in the world

JANUARY 2019 - The National Enquirer, run by a Donald Trump and Saudi ally, make the Bezos/ Sanchez relationship public, including intimate details

MARCH 2019 - Investigators for Mr Bezos say they are sure Saudi Arabia had access to his phone and leaked the affair story

JANUARY 2020 - New evidence that a video sent from the MBS number contained spyware