Princess Haya seeks forced marriage, domestic violence protection orders
Dubai’s ruler’s wife applies in London court for forced marriage, domestic abuse protection.
The estranged wife of Dubai’s billionaire ruler has applied for a forced marriage protection order in a British court to protect her children from her husband.
Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, the daughter of the late King Hussein of Jordan, fled the UAE in May with her two young children, “in fear for her life”.
She is now fighting an application from her husband Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum for the “summary return” of their children, aged 7 and 11.
At a hearing in the British High Court, Princess Haya, the youngest of Sheikh Mohammed’s six wives, also asked for a non-molestation order, under laws to safeguard victims of domestic abuse.
The 45-year-old princess wants wardship of the children, who currently live with her in her $150m house in Kensington, London. She has already successfully applied for the children to be wards of court, a status which would prevent their father from forcibly removing them from Britain.
Princess Haya attended the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice, sitting next to her lawyer Baroness Shackleton who also represented Prince Charles in his divorce with Princess Diana. The case, which is expected to be one of the most expensive child welfare cases in British family court history, is expected to reveal in potentially embarrassing detail the treatment of women in the Dubai royal household.
Family court Judge Andrew McFarlane rejected a request from Sheikh Mohammed’s lawyers to have details about the protective orders subject to reporting restrictions.
“There is a public interest in the public understanding, in very broad terms, proceedings that are before the court,” he said.
Princess Haya’s escape comes just after a year after Sheikh Mohammed’s daughter Princess Latifa tried to escape Dubai, claiming she had suffered unspeakable abuse for years at the hands of her father. Princess Latifa, 33, enjoyed five days of freedom before commandos stormed a yacht on which she was fleeing to India and seized her. In a video she posted online before she was recaptured, Princess Latifa said she had been secretly imprisoned for three years after a previous escape attempt as a teenager.
Since her recapture Latifa has been seen only once, in a posed photograph alongside Princess Haya and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson who visited the Al Maktoum family residence in December 2018. The photograph was widely denounced as a PR stunt.
Radha Stirling, CEO of the support group Detained in Dubai, has claimed Princess Haya fled the kingdom because she either witnessed, or experienced first-hand the kind of abuse alleged by Princess Latifa.
Sheikh Mohammed, who turned 70 earlier this month, is also the founder of the successful Godolphin horse racing stable and last month received a trophy from Queen Elizabeth II after one of his horses won a race at Royal Ascot. He was not present at the hearing.
With AP
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