Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has been ordered to pay out the most expensive divorce settlement ever ordered by an English court. The United Arab Emirates Prime Minister will have to fork out a staggering £550million to his former wife and their two children.
Judge Philip Moor said most of the money awarded to Princess Haya bint al-Hussein is to protect against the “grave risk” posed to them by the sheikh himself. In April 2019, Haya (47) originally fled the UAE with her two children, claiming to be “terrified” of her husband.
A court ruling declared that Mohammed had carried out a campaign of threats and intimidation towards his now ex-wife. The UAE PM had previously abducted and mistreated two of his daughters from another marriage.
This week, Judge Moor concluded that Princess Haya “is not asking for an award for herself other than for security.” Mohammed, who is also vice president of the UAE, has been ordered to compensate her for the possessions she lost during the marital breakdown.
Within three months, a once-off payment of £251.5m will be made to Haya for the upkeep of her mansions in the UK. The awarded sum is said to cover money owed to Haya for jewellery, and racehorses, as well her future security costs.
The sheikh was also told to provide £3m towards the education of their children, Jalila, 14, and Zayed, 9, as well as £9.6m in arrears. The settlement will also see him pay £11.2m a year for the children's maintenance, and for their security when they become adults. All payments are said to be guaranteed through a £290m security held by HSBC bank.
Despite being the largest public award ever ordered by an English family court, the sum is still less than half of the £1.4b that Haya had originally wanted. Although resisting giving “carte blanche” to Haya's financial claims, Judge Moor instead considered her demands “with a very clear eye to the exceptional circumstances of this case, such as the truly opulent and unprecedented standard of living enjoyed by these parties in Dubai. I remind myself that money was no object during the marriage.”
During almost seven hours of testimony, Haya said a large one-off payment would help remove the sheikh's hold over her and their children. She told the court: “I really want to be free, and I want them to be free.”
Following the lengthy hearing, a spokesperson for the sheikh claimed, “He has always ensured that his children are provided for. The court has now made its ruling on finances, and he does not intend to comment further. He asks that the media respect the privacy of his children and do not intrude into their lives in the UK.”
With the children having enjoyed an extremely high standard of living until now, more than £1million a year has been set aside for their leisure.
“I will have to do my best to come to a conclusion as to what is reasonable, whilst remembering that the exceptional wealth and remarkable standard of living enjoyed by these children during the marriage takes this case entirely out of the ordinary.”
£13.5m has been awarded to Haya for jewellery, as part of her claim for property lost when the marriage ended. Regarding the collection, Mr Justice Moor said it would have been “very difficult” to empty the room, as her jewellery collection “would spread across the entire courtroom.”
