The Individual Omani's relationship with the Sultan

My father was showing me photo albums filled with old family photographs.  Most of the photos were of his family, his father’s family, and his cousins.  Then, he took out another album but, this one was different than the previous ones he had so proudly showed me.  This densely filled album had many photographs of the Sultan Qaboos.  It had photographs taken from the internet and newspapers.  The Sultan as a toddler, Sultan Qaboos as a teenager, Sultan Qaboos as a young adult, and so on.  Photographs of major events in his life in the press were clipped from newspapers and saved in this cherished album.  

I understand the immense respect and praise of the Sultan but to the extent of saving an album of press photographs of his life in one’s home was a bit shocking for me.  Do a lot of people do this in Oman or in countries around the world?  Do many people in other countries (other than America) choose a famous public figure they praise and keep photographs and articles on their lives in an album or scrapbook?  Is collecting the publicity of someone’s life a common thing to do?