Under the 2002 Constitution he lost some of his powers, with the King now having the authority to appoint and (along with the Bahraini parliament) dismiss ministers.

Therefore, he was assigned the control of government and economy, while his brother, the Emir, was involved in diplomatic and ceremonial affairs.

[4] Al Khalifa died at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota on 11 November 2020 at the age of 84, 13 days before his 85th birthday.

[9][10] His body was flown back to Bahrain on 12 November, where he was buried the following day at Hunainiyah Cemetery in Riffa.

[11][12] Following his death, Bahraini authorities ordered a seven-day national mourning period with flags half-masted and government institutions closed for three days.