Billionaire Dubai ruler Sheikh Al Maktoum mounts last-ditch Supreme Court bid to keep his marital feud with youngest wife Princess Haya a secret after she fled to London ‘in fear of her life’
- Sheikh Maktoum, 70, had a feud with Princess Haya, his sixth and youngest wife
- He has applied for summary return to Dubai of his two children with 45-year-old
- Princess fled Dubai for London with her two children last year ‘in fear of her life’
- She has applied for children to be wards of court and a non-molestation order
The ruler of Dubai is mounting a last-ditch Supreme Court bid to stop his marital secrets being published to the world, it was revealed today.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, 70, has applied to the High Court in London for the summary return to Dubai of his two children with Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, 45, the half-sister of King Abdullah II of Jordan.
Princess Haya has applied for the children to be made wards of court, and has also applied for a forced marriage protection order in relation to one of the children and a non-molestation order.
Princess Haya at the Court of Appeal with Baroness Fiona Shackleton for last Friday’s hearing
Sheikh Mohammed, who is also vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, is now taking his bid to challenge the decision by Sir Andrew McFarlane, the president of the Family Division, to publish two of his judgments to the UK’s highest court.
The Court of Appeal said last week that Sir Andrew’s two rulings relate to ‘certain disputed factual issues’ and ‘issues arising out of the special position of (Sheikh Mohammed) as the sovereign and head of government of a foreign state’.
At a Court of Appeal hearing in London on Friday, Lord Justice Underhill said it was ‘the unanimous decision of the court’ to dismiss Sheikh Mohammed’s appeal.
The judge added that the Court of Appeal had refused Sheikh Mohammed’s application for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court, but that he had until 4pm today to apply directly to that court.
Today, a spokesman for the Supreme Court confirmed that Sheikh Mohammed had lodged an application for permission to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s ruling.
Princess Haya accompanies Mohammed bin Rashed al-Maktoum at Ascot Racecourse in 2008
She added that the application will be referred to three Supreme Court justices – Lord Hodge, Lord Wilson and Lady Black – and that the court is ‘aware of the urgency of this matter’.
At a hearing last Wednesday, Lord Justice Underhill said Sheikh Mohammed’s legal team argued that Sir Andrew’s decision to publish the judgments was ‘wrong in law and that the judgments should not be published, if at all, in advance of the welfare hearing’ later in March.
The judge added that Sheikh Mohammed’s appeal – which ‘raises questions both about what is in the best interests of the children and about how to balance that, if necessary, against the right of the press to report matters of public interest’ – was opposed by Princess Haya, the independent guardian ‘appointed by the court to represent the children’s interests’, and by a number of media organisations.
Princess Haya, who became Sheikh Mohammed’s sixth wife in 2004, ran away from Dubai to London last year ‘in fear of her life’.
The Daily Mail and other papers have spearheaded the application to ease reporting restrictions.