Princess Haya Bint al Hussein, 47 years old, fled to the U.K. after she became “terrified” by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum (prime minister and vice president of United Arab Emirates). According to the Associated Press, he is alleged to have ordered their two daughters to be returned to the UAE.
A U.K. family court judge ruled in October that Haya’s ruler from UAE had launched a fear campaign against her, authorizing hacking of her phone. According to the AP, al-Maktoum was also accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and forced return from Dubai of two of his adult daughters, Sheikha Latifa (2002 and 2018) and Sheikha Shamsa (2000).
The settlement Tuesday included $14 million per year in security payments for Haya and her children. According to Reuters, the presiding judge stated that al-Maktoum is the principal threat against the family.
Haya also received compensation for her lost jewelry and racehorses as well as payment for upkeep of her British homes. Al-Maktoum was ordered to pay Haya a lump amount of $333 million within three weeks. Reuters reported that al-Maktoum will guarantee further payments by securing a multimillion dollar bank security.
According to Reuters, the judge stated that he was making his decision on the divorce settlement “with a very keen eye to the extraordinary circumstances of the case such as the truly opulent & unprecedented standard of living enjoyed in Dubai by these parties.”
Al-Maktoum spent $2.6million on strawberries one summer for his country home outside of London. According to Reuters, the judge ordered Haya to pay 1.3 million pounds for couture clothing gone missing and $6.6 million each year for nine weeks of vacation with her family.
According to Reuters, Haya stated in court that the one-off, large payment would release her from al-Maktoum’s control over her.
She said that she wanted her children to be free, and that she was happy for them to be so.
