With the support of his family, Hamad took control of the country in 1995 while his father was on vacation abroad. While his father Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani was in Geneva, Switzerland, Hamad bin Khalifa deposed him in a bloodless coup d'état. The deposition came after a falling out between Hamad bin Khalifa and his father, who had tried regaining some of the authority he bestowed upon Hamad in early 1995. Thereafter, his father lived in exile in France and Abu Dhabi until he returned to Qatar in 2004.