Dubai ruler’s wife ‘spent months plotting escape’
She allegedly fled after learning about step-daughter’s ‘abduction’
THE youngest wife of Dubai’s ruler fled to London after discovering ‘disturbing facts’ about what happened to her husband’s elder daughter, it was claimed last night.
Princess Haya bint al-Hussein, 45, is said to be hiding with her children ‘in fear of her life’ in her £85million mansion overlooking Kensington Palace.
Her husband, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Maktoum, 69, one of the world’s richest men, has launched an extraordinary High Court bid to get his children back.
Both husband and wife are friends of the Queen, prompting fears she may be dragged into what could be Britain’s biggest ever divorce.
It was claimed yesterday that Princess Haya ran away from her luxurious life in Dubai – having spent months ‘meticulously’ plotting her escape – because of what she learned about another member of the Dubai royals who tried to flee. Princess Latifa, a daughter of the billionaire racehorseowning sheikh by another of his six wives, was said to have been captured as she tried to get away to make a new life, and dragged back to Dubai. She has claimed in a video that she was held on her father’s orders after her escape bid was discovered.
Princess Haya is said to be ‘afraid for her life’, according to the BBC’s security correspondent Frank Gardner.
She fears she may now be abducted herself and ‘rendered’ back to Dubai after finding out ‘disturbing facts’ about Princess Latifa, Mr Gardner said. Princess Haya was apparently assured by her husband that the Princess Latifa episode involved her being ‘kidnapped’ and then ‘rescued’.
But last night a family source told MailOnline: ‘Princess Haya finally learned the truth about what her husband did to his own daughter – and feared the same could happen to her.’
The source said Princess Haya had initially believed the claim by her husband, who owns prestigious stables in Newmarket, Suffolk, that Princess Latifa had been rescued as the victim of an extortion plot.
Princess Latifa, 33, one of Sheikh Mohammed’s 23 children by different wives, fled Dubai on a yacht in February last year, to make a new life in the US, but she was caught by special forces. She recorded videos before her capture, saying her life was a sham.
The family source claimed it was Claims: Princess Latifa in her video, and Sheikh Mohammed Princess Haya’s fears for her own two children, aged 11 and seven, that triggered her decision to leave. Matters are said to have come to a head after a high-profile intervention by former Irish president Mary Robinson.
Mrs Robinson visited Dubai at Princess Haya’s request, and met Princess Latifa. But after the controversial encounter, Princess Haya is understood to have begun asking ‘awkward’ questions about Princess Latifa. The family friend said: ‘The Princess is an intelligent woman and would have realised that her husband’s people were covering up the truth of what happened. She must have feared something similar could happen to her or her children...’
After planning her departure at the beginning of the year, Princess Haya, half-sister to King Abdullah II of Jordan, is thought to have fled Dubai in early May, travelled to Germany and then Britain. The half-British, Oxfordeducated princess reportedly fled the Arab kingdom with £31million.
She has moved into an £85million London townhouse. The estranged couple now face an unprecedented clash in the Family Division of London’s Royal Courts of Justice.
A hearing has been set for July 30, when lawyers for the sheikh will argue that his children belong with him. Sheikh Mohammed has hired Helen Ward, who handled Guy Ritchie’s split from Madonna, while Princess Haya hired Fiona Shackleton, whose clients have included Prince Charles in his split from Diana. The UAE embassy in London declined to comment.
‘Afraid for her life’