London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 08, 2025

Princess Haya: The princess, the sheikh and the £550m divorce settlement

Princess Haya: The princess, the sheikh and the £550m divorce settlement

It's described as the biggest divorce case in British legal history - a settlement of more than £500m involving the billionaire ruler of Dubai and his estranged wife.

The UK's High Court on Tuesday awarded a lump sum settlement of £251.5m to Princess Haya Bint Al-Hussain - the 47-year-old daughter of Jordan's former King Hussein.

She is the youngest of six wives of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum - the multi-billionaire ruler of Dubai, prime minister of the UAE and influential horse-racing owner.

The judgment provides Princess Haya with sums to cover the cost of running two multi-million pound properties - one next to London's Kensington Palace, as well as her main residence in Egham, Surrey.

There is also provision for a substantial "security budget" as well as holidays, salaries and accommodation for both a nurse and a nanny, armoured vehicles for the family, and the cost of maintaining various ponies and pets.

It has also awarded secured payments of £5.6m-a-year to each of her two children, a 14-year-old daughter and a nine-year old son. These are to be secured with a £290m guarantee.

'In fear of her life'


This long-running court custody battle has thrown a spotlight on the normally closed world of Middle Eastern royal families.

Princess Haya fled from Dubai to Britain with her children in 2019, saying she was in fear of her life, after discovering Sheikh Mohammed had previously abducted two of his other daughters - Sheikha Latifa and Sheikha Shamsa - and rendered them back to Dubai against their will.

Sheikh Mohammed, 72, who is also a giant figure in the horse-racing world, has denied the abductions - despite a 2020 High Court judgement saying they were, in all probability, true. He published a poem called "You lived, You Died", widely assumed to threaten the princess after discovering she was having an affair with her British ex-Army bodyguard.

Princess Haya continued to receive threats after moving to Britain, with messages saying "we can reach you anywhere" and she has since spent vast sums on security for fear her children would be abducted and flown back to Dubai.

Princess Haya fled from Dubai to Britain with her children in 2019, saying she was in fear of her life


The High Court ruled this year that Sheikh Mohammed had illegally hacked the mobile phones of Princess Haya, her bodyguards and her legal team, which includes the Tory peer Baroness Shackleton.

The hack was made using invasive spyware called Pegasus, which infects targeted phones and was produced by the Israeli firm NSO Group. Sheikh Mohammed said he had no hacked material in his possession and no surveillance had been undertaken with his express or implied authority. However, the president of the Family Division of the High Court in the UK found to the contrary.

In the divorce judgment, Mr Justice Moor, decided that, given earlier rulings, the princess and her two children were particularly vulnerable. He said they needed watertight security to ensure their continued safety in the UK. The main threat they faced was not from outside sources, he said, but from their father, a man who had access to the full weight of the state.

"There is a clear and ever-present risk to these children that is almost certain to persist until they obtain their independence," the judge said. As to Princess Haya, he added: "There will remain a clear and ever-present risk to [Princess Haya] for the remainder of her life, whether it be from [Sheikh Mohammed] or just from the normal terrorist and other threats."

The court was told of a security assessment that put the risk to Princess Haya and her children as "severe". The judge subsequently awarded funds to cover the running costs of armoured vehicles for transporting the family.

Sheikh Mohammed, 72, is prime minister of the UAE and a giant figure in the horse-racing world


The High Court judge said he had done his best to reach a reasonable conclusion, given "the exceptional wealth and remarkable standard of living enjoyed by these children during the marriage". He said that took the case "entirely out of the ordinary".

Lawyers for Princess Haya insisted she had made no claims for her own future needs but she was criticised during court hearings for her lavish spending. Her son, for example, aged just nine, has been given three expensive cars as he was "accustomed to being given cars as gifts". This was, said the judge, a legitimate criticism.

The judgment includes evidence provided by Princess Haya that she had been blackmailed by members of her security staff over an affair she had with one of them. She made several payments to four of these staff, some of which came from her children's bank accounts. To correct this, she said she had sold jewellery to the value of over a £1m and had since had to sell more.

Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai has said heirlooms given to his former wife would be sent on to her. These included ballet shoes given to her by the world famous dancers Dame Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev. He also said he has removed the online poem ascribed to him, which the princess perceived as a threat to her life.

He said he had no intention of causing harm to the princess.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Brand-New $1 Million Yacht Sinks Just Fifteen Minutes After Maiden Launch in Turkey
Here’s What the FBI Seized in John Bolton Raid — and the Legal Risks He Faces
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
×