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Dubai emir trying to keep judgements in legal battle with Jordanian princess secret
Sheikh Mohammed attempting to stop publication of ruling concerning his children with Princess Haya, court told. The ruler of Dubai is trying to block the publication of two UK family court judgements in a case involving his children with the emir’s estranged wife Princess Haya. Lord Justice Underhill issued a statement on Wednesday at the…
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The Great Escape
Amid a rash of women fleeing oppressive families in the middle east, the case of Princess Latifa, who has tried to run away twice, has been splashed across headlines around the world. In exclusive interviews with her friends and family, Marie Claire goes behind the scenes of her last attempt and their fight to #FreeLatifa.…
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The inside story of the Dubai princess who fled from her billionaire father
Two years ago, Princess Latifa staged an escape from her repressed life in Dubai. It failed and she hasn’t been seen in public since. When we got in the car on the day of our escape, I turned to Latifa and said, ‘We’re like Thelma and Louise,’ says Tiina Jauhiainen, with a small smile at…
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“You’re Essentially a Prisoner”: Why Do Dubai’s Princesses Keep Trying to Escape?
First Princess Latifa tried to flee by boat and almost made it to India—before being sent back. Then Princess Haya, Sheikh Mohammed’s “public wife,” refused to return from England. Now the sheikh is battling her in court over their children. Amid the fine horses competing in this year’s Royal Ascot, the red-coated postilions driving the…
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Ivanka Trump’s latest Dubai trip proves misogyny has powerful Western enablers
The first daughter’s participation helps to camouflage this fact with public bromides about “girl power” and business stories about women entrepreneurs. The Trump administration last weekend sent Ivanka Trump, its senior and nominally most feminist presidential adviser, to Dubai to headline a two-day Global Women’s Forum called “The Power of Influence.” In her keynote address,…
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Randa al-Banna interview: ‘Our baby is now in her forties. The emir still won’t let me near’
The first wife of Dubai’s ruler says she was kicked out of the country when her marriage ended in the 1970s — and hasn’t seen her daughter since. When Randa al-Banna met the prince, she had no idea who he was. It was 1972, she was 16 years old and she had just been expelled…
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Truth about Sheikh Maktoum’s missing princesses Latifa and Shamsa could be revealed in his High Court fight with Princess Haya
The High Court battle between Princess Haya and Dubai’s billionaire ruler could unlock the truth about two of his children who vanished and are allegedly imprisoned in his Gulf state.
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Could this court case unlock the mystery of Dubai’s missing princesses Latifa and Shamsa?
To the outside world, Princess Latifa of Dubai appeared to live a life of unbridled luxury. Whether it was skydiving over one of the world’s most scenic deserts or filming the exotic pets that ran free in her mother’s palace, she always appeared smiling, happy and carefree, at least on social media. Yet in February…
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“You’re Essentially a Prisoner”: Why Do Dubai’s Princesses Keep Trying to Escape?
First Princess Latifa tried to flee by boat and almost made it to India—before being sent back. Then Princess Haya, Sheikh Mohammed’s “public wife,” refused to return from England. Now the sheikh is battling her in court over their children.
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Inside Dubai’s secretive society
Two months ago Princess Haya, the wife of Sheikh Mohammed, the ruler of Dubai, apparently fled to London. The Times Middle East correspondent, Richard Spencer, who lived in the city for three years, reveals the personal and political tensions beneath the emirate’s five-star resorts and all-seeing surveillance cameras