The Saudi Royal Family are pragmatists and businessmen. But they have an unruly “street” that they need to keep in line, preferably by placation.
I’m convinced that a big unspoken reason for the liberation of Iraq was to allow US/Western military forces to be withdrawn from Saudi Arabia, where they were both providing deterrant and containment of Saddam Hussein AND ticking off the Saudi “Street”
The Wahibbists, Islamists and Muslim Brotherhood scare them, and they see a lot of similarities between them and Egypt.
The Saudi Royals keep their friends close, and their enemies even closer.
The general unrest in the ME is more likely to deepen rather than subside. If it does a large war will erupt as nations around the world find themselves taking sides. Shades of Sarajevo. Conflicting treaties, need for oil, financial obligations etc. etc. Just imagine the result of a couple of ships being sunk in the Suez canal.