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Dubai's Princess Haya flees UAE with money, kids: Reports

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  • Dubai's Princess Haya flees UAE with money, kids: Reports

    The princess, the half-sister of King Abdullah of Jordan, is said to be seeking a divorce after initially fleeing to Germany with her children

    Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, the sixth wife of Dubai's billionaire ruler, has reportedly fled the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with 31 million pounds and their two children following the break-up of their marriage.

    According to media reports, the wife of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum -- the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE -- is believed to be in hiding in London.

    The princess, the half-sister of King Abdullah of Jordan, is said to be seeking a divorce after initially fleeing to Germany with her children Jalila, 11, and Zayed, seven where she requested political asylum.

    She is understood to have taken 31 million pounds with her to start a new life, reports say.

    Oxford educated Princess Haya has not been seen in public since May 20 and her social media accounts, which are usually full of photos of her charitable work, have not been active since February.

    Unconfirmed reports in Arab media say that a German diplomat helped the princess "escape" from Dubai, leading to a potential diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

    It is claimed that German authorities refused a request from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Maktoum, one of the world's richest men, to return his wife to Dubai.

    Two sources close to the Dubai royal family were cited as saying by media reports that Princess Haya has indeed left the country and is seeking a divorce.

    It comes after one of the Sheikh's daughter's Princess Latifa attempted to flee from her father and Dubai. She was captured on a boat off the Indian coast and has since disappeared, but is believed to have been returned to the UAE.

    Princess Latifa said abuse forced her to flee the kingdom - and human rights groups claim she is being held in captivity in Dubai.

    Radha Stirling, Chief Executive of watchdog Detained in Dubai, said: "Whenever someone applies for political asylum, obviously, it is because their lives are in danger, and because they have suffered severe abuses and violations of their human rights.

    "We already know that Princess Latifa, Sheikh Mohammed's daughter, fled the UAE seeking asylum and alleging unspeakable abuse at the hands of her father.

    "Now, it seems, Princess Haya, Sheikh Mohammed's wife, has also fled the country and sought refuge in Germany."

    She said there are now "serious questions" about what prompted Princess Haya to flee.
    Politicians are elected to serve...far too many don't see it that way - Albany Rifles! || Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it - Mark Twain! || I am a far left millennial!

  • #2
    The Ruler of Dubai Condemns His Runaway Wife, Princess Haya, on Instagram—in a Poem

    The wife of the ruler of Dubai has fled the country, with more success than his daughter did last year. The sheikh has denounced her, in a furious verse posted to Instagram.

    Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and one of the world’s richest men, has written a furious poem denouncing treachery and betrayal after his wife, Princess Haya bint Al Hussein, the daughter of the late King of Jordan and sister of the present king, secretly fled to Europe with their son Zayed, 7, and daughter Al Jalila, 11.

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    Haya is believed to have initially sought asylum in Germany, and sources say her application has been approved in principle.

    However, she is also said to be seeking sanctuary in the U.K., with sources telling The Daily Beast her preference is to live in London, where she is currently said to be residing at a secret location.

    The flight of Haya will inevitably draw comparisons with the failed attempt by bin Rashid’s daughter, Princess Shiekha Latifa, to flee Dubai last year. Latifa tried to get out, but was intercepted at sea off India and returned the United Arab Emirates. She had previously recorded a YouTube video in which she criticized her father and the restrictions she lived under.

    Haya was criticized after she helped Dubai spin the Latifa story, appearing alongside former Irish President Mary Robinson and a dazed and listless Latifa after her capture to show she was unharmed.

    Bin Rashid, 69, is known as a poet in his native land and frequently marks great occasions of state, and family events such as weddings, in verse.

    Although his poetic skills have often been the subject of private derision, few in the UAE’s closeted world have ever dared to criticize his musings.

    The new poem, which appears to have been written by the prince in outrage at his wife’s decision to abscond with their son and daughter (Islamic law dictates that a woman who leaves her husband may not take the children) is particularly awful, even by his standards.

    Entitled “You Lived and You Died,” the poem is a furious meditation on betrayal, in which the poet accuses the unnamed subject:

    “You betrayer, you betrayed the most precious trust, and your game has been revealed.

    “Your days of lying are over and it doesn’t matter what we were and what you are.”

    Appropriately given his obsession with horses ( bin Rashid is the founder of Godolphin, the world’s biggest and most powerful horse breeding and racing conglomerate), the verse is rich in equine imagery, with Rashid writing in one section: “You let the reins on your horse go free.”

    The poem concludes with a dramatic denunciation: “You no longer have any place with me/ Go to who you have been busy with!/ And let this be good for you; I don’t care if you live or you die.”

    Asked if the poem sounded as bad in Arabic as it did in translation, a source told The Daily Beast: “It’s actually worse.”

    Sources say bin Rashid was encouraged by his eldest sons to write the poem, which was shared initially in an Insatgram post by a trusted and senior adviser and has since swept around Arabic-language social networks. These sons are the product of his marriage to his first and senior wife, and they are reported to hold great animosity toward Haya, as bin Rashid more or less abandoned his senior wives when he married Haya (he has at least five and possibly as many as seven wives and acknowledges 23 children).

    Questions were first raised about the status of the relationship after Haya was observed not to be at her husband’s side at the British race meeting Royal Ascot this month.

    It then emerged that bin Rashid and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the entire United Arab Emirates (of which Dubai is a part), had made an unscheduled visit to Germany prior to Ascot, which, sources say, was part of an attempt to negotiate a solution with Haya.

    While there is no longer any serious hope she will return to the desert country, the word now is that bin Rashid will allow a civil divorce from Haya and not fight to have her brought back to the UAE.

    This is a sign, some believe, that regionally the UAE’s power is fading and it has no appetite for a propaganda war over the relationship with Jordan, where Haya, as the late king’s daughter and a prominent philanthropist, is a national icon.

    In return for leaning on Haya to keep embarrassing details about Dubai quiet, sources say, Jordan is likely to politely request vast influxes of capital investment, which they felt they were promised when the marriage first took place but did not materialize as hoped. Haya’s brother, King Abdulah II, is, however, innately cautious, and will be unlikely to overplay his hand—some 200,000 Jordanians work in the UAE and the remittances sustain Jordan’s economy.

    Relations between the UAE and Jordan are strong; Jordan has, for example, backed the Emirates in its blockade of Qatar. Sources say Haya may have fled to Europe rather than to her own country to spare her family from the pressure that would inevitably be brought to bear by the emirates to send her back.

    However, some believe the affair, and the ill-advised poem, may signal the beginning of the end of bin Rashid’s remarkable reign of Dubai, and provide a rallying point for Emiratis who would like to shift him off the throne in favor of the young crown prince, who they hope might revive the emirate’s fortunes: Growth in gross domestic product slowed to 1.9 per cent last year, its slowest rate of expansion since 2010.

    Radha Stirling, from the activist group Detained in Dubai, told The Daily Beast: “We have received multiple reports regarding the story of Princess Haya from sources close to the governments in Jordan and the UAE, all of which indicate that she has sought political asylum in Germany.

    “We cannot comment on the veracity of these reports, but such an event would clearly represent a powerful indictment against the UAE and against Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid personally, as well as have potentially dramatic repercussions on the relationships between the countries involved.”

    Queries to official bodies drew a blank, with a spokesperson for the British government saying they could not comment on individual cases. The German Bundestag did not reply to a query and the UAE government did not respond to a request for comment on the princess’ alleged appeal for asylum.
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    Politicians are elected to serve...far too many don't see it that way - Albany Rifles! || Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it - Mark Twain! || I am a far left millennial!

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    • #3
      Haya was criticized after she helped Dubai spin the Latifa story, appearing alongside former Irish President Mary Robinson and a dazed and listless Latifa after her capture to show she was unharmed.
      This Haya name does ring a bell. She worked at the UN i think that's how the Mary Robinson connection.

      Quite the turn of events isn't it.

      “We cannot comment on the veracity of these reports, but such an event would clearly represent a powerful indictment against the UAE and against Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid personally, as well as have potentially dramatic repercussions on the relationships between the countries involved.”
      Leaders get divorced in other countries with none of this drama.
      Last edited by Double Edge; 01 Jul 19,, 06:41.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Double Edge View Post
        This Haya name does ring a bell. She worked at the UN i think that's how the Mary Robinson connection.

        Quite the turn of events isn't it.

        Leaders get divorced in other countries with none of this drama.
        More on her - Haya bint Hussein

        Dubai: Princess Haya's flight to UK threatens diplomatic crisis

        Princess Haya Bint al-Hussein’s flight to Britain is threatening to provoke a diplomatic crisis as her husband, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and a key UK ally in the Gulf, faces mounting criticism over his family’s treatment of women.

        The 45-year-old, a half-sister of the king of Jordan, is understood to be living in London in fear of kidnap following the alleged abductions of several close relatives.

        The most notorious disappearance involved the 33-year-old Princess Latifa, Sheikh Mohammed’s daughter, who allegedly escaped Dubai before being seized off the coast of India by commandos last year and forcibly returned home. Emirati authorities dismissed the claims at the time as fiction.

        In 2000, another of the sheikh’s daughters, Princess Shamsa, fled from her father’s estate near Chobham, Surrey. She was last seen in August that year on the streets of Cambridge from where she was reportedly abducted by the sheikh’s staff. Cambridgeshire police investigated the incident.

        Princess Haya is said to have decided to flee Dubai after learning the full details of what happened to Latifa. On Thursday night, the BBC screened a repeat of a documentary, Escape from Dubai: The Mystery of the Missing Princess, exploring Latifa’s fate.

        A 69-year-old billionaire and racehorse owner, Sheikh Mohammed was last seen speaking to the Queen at Royal Ascot in June. Princess Haya, a keen equestrian, unusually did not appear at this year’s event.

        In her attempt to seek asylum in the UK, Princess Haya may be able to claim diplomatic immunity as a further layer of protection. Although she does not appear as an accredited official on the latest London diplomatic list, published early last month, she was previously registered as a Jordanian official.

        Between 2011 and 2013, she was listed as Princess Haya Al-Hussein, first secretary (cultural affairs). There are suggestions she has recently been re-accredited at the Jordanian embassy. The embassy could not be contacted for comment.

        Princess Haya is believed to be living in her high-security home near Kensington Palace in central London, which she bought for £85m in 2017 from the billionaire Lakshmi Mittal. She has since renovated the property which is on a private street that is home to ambassadorial residences and the super-rich.

        She is believed to be under the protection of a private security firm though there are suggestions that, because of her fears of being kidnapped, a formal request has been made for police protection. Scotland Yard said it did not comment on security details.

        Quest, a UK private security company owned and chaired by John Stevens, a former commissioner of the Metropolitan police, has provided security and intelligence advice to Princess Haya for many years.

        Last year Sir Mark Rowley, the former head of counter-terrorism at Scotland Yard, became a non-executive director of Quest after leaving the Metropolitan police. It is understood senior executives at the firm are aware of the crisis facing one of their most lucrative clients.

        Quest first worked with Princess Haya in 2010, when it helped her in her role as president of the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) to set up the clean sport initiatives that formed the central plank of her FEI election manifesto.

        The firm was also commissioned by Sheikh Mohammed and Princess Haya to conduct an investigation into the doping of horses at the Sheikh’s Godolphin stable, which was a major scandal in horse racing in 2013-14.

        It is not clear whether the princess will formally be seeking a divorce from Sheikh Mohammed. She is thought to be his sixth wife.

        There is a high court case involving the couple, as revealed by the Guardian this week, but the next hearing is not due to take place until 30 July.

        Princess Haya is represented by Fiona Shackleton QC, who represented Prince Charles during his divorce from Princess Diana. Shackleton’s firm, Payne Hicks Beach, declined to comment.

        Haya is known to be close to the British royal family. She has been pictured frequently with the Queen and Prince Charles.

        The sheikh is represented by Helen Ward QC, of Stewarts Law, who has previously represented Andrew Lloyd Webber, Paloma Picasso, Guy Ritchie, Bernie Ecclestone and the Countess Spencer.

        Radha Stirling, the founder and chief executive of Detained in Dubai, which supports victims of miscarriages of justice in the Gulf state, has written to Lady Shackleton offering to give expert testimony about how the justice system in the United Arab Emirates treats suspects and deals with domestic abuse.

        Stirling last year raised the case of Princess Shamsa’s apparent abduction with Cambridgeshire police, asking them to reopen their investigation into her disappearance.

        Stirling has also suggested a UK court could request evidence about Princess Latifa’s alleged kidnap from a yacht in the Indian Ocean and the role played by the royal family in her enforced return. Latifa herself, Stirling has suggested, could be called to testify.

        News of Haya’s flight has thrown up a whirlwind of speculation. Initial reports suggested she had escaped to Germany, where she is understood to own property.

        A poem, said to have been written by her aggrieved husband, appeared online accusing an unidentified woman of treason and betrayal.

        The ramifications of her situation have spread around the world. The UK is a close ally of the UAE, which is heavily involved in the war in Yemen alongside Saudi Arabia. Last month the court of appeal ruled that British arms sales to Saudi Arabia were unlawful.

        The Foreign Office in London has declined to comment on the marriage break-up, viewing it as a private matter. There have been claims that the Dubai royal family approached the UK government for help in seeking Haya’s return. The UAE government has denied making any approaches.

        The fallout is likely to embitter relations between Jordan and the UAE. In Ireland, the former president Mary Robinson has faced questions over her visit to Dubai last December, at Haya’s request, where she was photographed meeting Latifa.

        Speaking to reporters at a trades union conference in Dublin on Wednesday, Robinson said: “I really have nothing more to say about that. I have never been friends, except with Princess Haya, one friend, who is still my friend.”

        Sheikh Mohammed’s spokesperson declined to comment on the allegations that Princess Haya had fled to the UK, or any other aspect of the case.
        Politicians are elected to serve...far too many don't see it that way - Albany Rifles! || Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it - Mark Twain! || I am a far left millennial!

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