Prince Ali

In the short story The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding, Prince Ali was the only son and heir of ruler of a rich and important native state. He was scheduled to be married to a woman of royal blood and had come to London with some jewels to be reset in modern settings by Cartier. These jewels were then to be used for his wedding. Among these was a precious ruby of great historical importance in his country.

However, the prince had been indiscreet and careless. He had dated another woman (who later posed as the sister of Desmond Lee-Wortley) and had allowed her to wear the ruby. She had then excused herself from the table to powder her nose and had disappeared.

The scandal of the loss of the ruby would jeopardise the impending marriage and have serious political repercussions. As such, Poirot was asked to assist in its recovery.

The nationality of Prince Ali is not stated but, given the name, he was probably from India or the Middle-east

Prince Ali was not featured in the film adaptation of the story in Series 3 of ITV's Agatha Christie's Poirot. His role was taken over by Prince Farouk, an Egyptian prince.