The murder of one man has diminished two world leaders and revived the standing of a third.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's reputation has been trashed by the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

It is unlikely his father King Salman will strip him of his powers, but his image as a dynamic young reformer is gone forever.

It will be years before any image-wary world leader would even consider standing with the toxic Prince at a photo call.

Donald Trump might even think twice about inviting him back to the White House — his closeness to Mohammed bin Salman has damaged the US President's reputation, too.

Saudi King Salman shakes hands with Salah, one of Jamal Khashoggi's sons. ( Saudi Press Agency via AP )

He was hesitant to criticise Saudi Arabia over the case and even gave weight to Saudi claims that "rogue agents" were responsible for the murder of Khashoggi.

His declaration that he wasn't about to suspend or spike US-Saudi arms deals wasn't just a weak moral position — it weakened his ability to force something useful out of the Kingdom, like a credible admission of guilt, or a revelation about the location of Khashoggi's body.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, however, hasn't put a foot wrong.

He came into this affair with his own reputation tarnished by wooden economic policy, mega inflation and painful US sanctions sparked by the detention of a US pastor.

He had led his own ruthless crackdown, sacking 4,000 judges and prosecutors and jailing 177 journalists.

But all that's been barely mentioned over the past few weeks.

Instead, he has engineered a campaign of death-by-a-thousand leaks that have weakened a regional rival and damaged its ally, the US.

Sorry, this video has expired Turkey's president slams Saudi Arabia following "savage" killing of Jamal Khashoggi

Turkish authorities have countered Saudi Arabia's denials with a series of leaks in the local, highly regulated press.

The information wasn't just dumped on day one. It's been carefully curated to keep it in the headlines, and to maintain the pressure on Saudi Arabia: the presence of a 15-man team in the country; the news that they came in on two private jets; CCTV footage of the operation; news that one of them was a forensic expert; that he carried a bone saw with him; that there was an audio recording of the killing.

The information campaign has continued for three weeks, right up until the latest leak that the Saudis tried to cover their tracks by using a body double dressed in the murdered man's own clothes.

The President has been careful to keep himself at arm's length from the leaks. After promising to reveal the "naked truth" about the killing in a speech on Tuesday, Mr Erdogan kept it simple: the person who ordered the death needed to be held to account.

That person is not likely to be Mohammed bin Salman.

The Crown Prince and King Salman were photographed yesterday shaking the hand of Khashoggi's son in Riyadh.

There's no word on whether the Prince apologised for what Saudi Arabia did to his father.