The daughter of the emirate’s ruler has been praised for her message in which she says her spouse has been ‘occupied with other companions’

The Times
July 18, 2024

In a country where women’s freedoms have been under international scrutiny,a Dubai princess has won plaudits for announcing the end of her marriage on social media.

Sheikha Mahra bint Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, whose father, Sheikh Mohammed, is the ruler of Dubai, had married Sheikh Mana bin Mohammed bin Rashid bin Mana al-Maktoum, also from the ruling family, a little over a year ago, and the couple had a baby earlier this year.

However, in a post directed at her husband, and shared with half a million followers, she appeared to accuse him of infidelity. “Dear Husband,” the 30-year-old wrote in her Instagram post. “As you are occupied with other companions, I hereby declare our divorce. I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you. Take care. Your ex-wife.”

The post provides a rare glimpse into the private lives of royals in Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates and a popular tourism and finance hub. It was published on Tuesday and has since had nearly 150,000 likes and more than 18,000 comments.

“Stay strong princess,” wrote one. “The women of the world are pleased with you,” wrote another.

The ruling family’s image is painstakingly managed by their publicists and Sheikh Mohammed, 75, has become renowned for expanding Dubai into what is widely seen as the region’s most liveable city and a top tourism destination.

The emir’s personal wealth was estimated at $14 billion in 2021 and he is one of the largest landowners in the UK, with a portfolio of more than 100,000 acres, including mansions and stables in Newmarket, an estate in the Scottish Highlands and prestigious addresses in London and Surrey.

He has 26 children by at least 7 wives, all of whom he has divorced except Sheikha Hind bint Maktoum Al Maktoum, his first wife.

Sheikh Mohammed, who is also the vice-president and prime minister of the UAE, divorced Princess Haya bint Hussein, a Jordanian royal, after she took him to court in London accusing him of threatening her and abducting two of his daughters. The High Court in London upheld her allegations in 2020, which Sheikh Mohammed has denied.

One of his daughters, Sheikha Latifa, 38, had fled Dubai on a jet ski in 2018 before being forced to return after Indian officials boarded the boat she had transferred to on its way to Goa. She was alleged to have been held against her will but a campaign to free her ended in 2021 after she was spotted in Spain and representatives met her in Iceland.

The High Court also found on the balance of probabilities that Sheikh Mohammed had another daughter, Sheikha Shamsa, abducted off the street in Cambridge in 2000, taken to another of his properties in Newmarket, then flown back to Dubai. Now 42, she has not been seen in public since.

Sheikha Mahra, who graduated from university in London in 2023, is the daughter of a Greek mother, Zoe Grigorakos, and half-sister to Latifa and Shamsa. She honeymooned on the island of Mykonos following her marriage to Sheikh Mana last summer.

As a member of the royal family she would have more power than an average woman in divorcing her husband but also potentially more constraints, given her public standing. The sudden declaration of the split on Instagram is likely to have been her own initiative.

Dubai, which is home to more than 240,000 British expatriates, is the most liberal of the UAE’s cities, known for its artificial islands, beaches and skyscrapers including the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. However, many of its Muslim citizens remain socially conservative and personal affairs such as marriage and divorce are adjudicated according to religious law.

While Islamic law allows women to seek divorce, it is harder for them to do so than for men. Permissible reasons include adultery, neglect by a spouse and a spouse’s insanity.

Divorce is still mostly frowned upon but a recent study in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, found that more Emirati women than men had initiated divorce proceedings. The study, published in 2022 by the Journal of International Women’s Studies, said: “Divorce is still considered a social stigma in the UAE and especially for women”, noting that a minority of divorces were sought by the wife’s family.

“However, surprisingly, more women (46.5 per cent) than men (22 per cent) sought divorce,” it added.