Prince Saud bin Abdulaziz Bin Nasir, a grandson of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah II, was jailed in 2010 for killing Bandar Abdullah Abdulaziz at their five-star hotel suite in London.
He was convicted at the Old Bailey, after the court heard he had subjected his aide to a "sadistic" campaign of violence and sexual abuse, which culminated in the "brutal" assault.
The 36-year-old, a member of one of the world's richest and most powerful dynasties, was told he must serve a minimum term of 20 years in jail for the Valentine's Day night out attack, fuelled by champagne and "Sex on the Beach" cocktails.
Today, government sources confirmed that Chris Grayling, the Justice Secretary, had approved the prince's transfer to a jail in Saudi Arabia.
It was not specified when the prince would be transferred, but The Times reported that he was expected to fly home within weeks.
He is one of 11 Saudi citizens in British jails that are eligible for the transfers home.
Under the prisoner transfer agreement, which came into operation in August, five Britons currently languishing in Saudi prisons can ask to serve the remainder of their sentences in the UK.
The Ministry of Justice said it did not comment on individual prison transfer cases.
A spokeswoman added: "We have a prison transfer arrangement with Saudi Arabia which allows nationals of either country to serve their prison sentence in their home state."
Saud denied that he was homosexual during his high-profile trial but the jury was told that he had ordered gay escorts in London. He had also frequently looked at websites for gay massage parlours and escort agencies.
His lawyers argued that he could face the death penalty in Saudi Arabia over the revelations of homosexuality.
The jury heard that the prince was fuelled by champagne and cocktails when he beat and strangled Abdulaziz to death on February 15, 2010.
A post-mortem found that Abdulaziz had suffered heavy blows to the head, injuries to the brain and ears and severe neck injuries consistent with strangulation by hand.
Prosecutors said bite marks on his cheeks showed a clear "sexual element" to the killing, which also involved up to 37 separate blows. The prince then tried to cover up the murder.
Following the attack he had ordered two glasses of milk and some water, dragged the corpse into the bed, and tried to clean up the blood.
He told police that the victim had gained his injuries in an attack on a London street "weeks before", but the hotel's CCTV footage recorded the attack.
The judge had declared he had used Mr Abdulaziz, originally from Sudan, as a "human punch bag".
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