David Brown, Jonathan Ames, Valentine Low
July 3, 2019, The Times

A wife of the ruler of Dubai is seeking sanctuary in Britain in fear of her life after fleeing with £31 million, it was claimed yesterday.

Princess Haya bint al-Hussein, 45, and her husband Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, 69, are embroiled in High Court action in London over the future of their family.

The Times revealed yesterday that Princess Haya, the British-educated daughter of the former king of Jordan, is in hiding at her £85 million mansion close to Kensington Palace.

She is in “fear of her life” and believes that her husband will attempt to arrange for her to “rendered” to Dubai after he posted a poem on Instagram accusing an unidentified woman of “treachery and betrayal”, the BBC said.

Princess Haya, a half-sister of Jordan’s King Abdullah, is believed to have left Dubai with her children, Jalila, 11, and Zayed, 7. They travelled to Germany before moving to London where she bought a home in 2017.

She is said to have fled after discovering “disturbing facts” about Princess Latifa, 33, one of her step-daughters, who was seized on a yacht off India while allegedly attempting to escape Dubai in March last year.

The family feud could cause diplomatic difficulties for Britain and concern for the Queen, who is close to both Sheikh Mohammed — the prime minister of the federal United Arab Emirates government — and Princess Haya.

The sheikh, the driving force behind the Godolphin racing stable, is a familiar figure on Britain’s racecourses. At Royal Ascot he will often join the Queen for afternoon tea.

Princess Haya, who was educated at Bryanston School in Dorset, is understood to have recruited Helen Ward, an elite family law specialist who has acted for a string of celebrity clients.

A spokesman for the UAE said it would not comment on “allegations about individuals’ private lives”.