A London judge has ordered Dubai’s king, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to pay his estranged wife Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein at least 554 million pounds ($734 million) in a divorce settlement that is the largest ever in the UK.
The agreement brings to an end a long-running legal battle between Princess Haya Bint al-Hussein, 47, daughter of Jordan’s late King Hussein, and her ex-husband, multibillionaire Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.
During the trial, the court heard details about the princess’s lavish lifestyle before she fled Dubai with her two children, Zayed, 9, and Jalila, 14.
The court also heard about Mohammed’s abusive behavior toward his wife and children, which prompted Haya to file for divorce and flee to Britain in 2019, claiming she was afraid for her children’s lives.
The judge agreed that she faced risks and directed the majority of the settlement funds toward providing the princess and her children with lifetime security, including armored cars, cyber-protection, cameras, ballistic safeguards, and bodyguards.
A court ruled in October that Mohammed had used Israeli company NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware to hack Haya’s phone, as well as the phones of the closest members of her inner circle.
The court also heard how Mohammed kidnapped and returned two of his daughters, Princesses Latifa and Shamsa, to Dubai. Mohammed allegedly attempted to purchase a property near one of Haya’s homes and threatened her life, including a text message that said, “We can find you anywhere.”
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum was ordered by a London judge to pay Princess Haya Bint al-Hussein 251.5 million pounds within three months to cover security and lost items such as jewelry and clothing. The judge also ordered him to make annual payments of around 11 million pounds toward his children’s education costs, which will be secured by a 290 million-pound bank guarantee. Backdated sums and a learning fund are accounted for in the remaining millions.
Following their divorce, Princess Haya would have a “clean break” from the sheikh, according to Judge Philip Moor’s ruling, which was published on Tuesday, December 22.
Prior to the ruling, another judge discovered that the ruler of Dubai had ordered the hacking of Haya’s and her legal team’s phones.
According to the Judge, the total amount the sheikh will have to pay to his family is likely to be much higher due to annual security costs he will have to pay directly to his children after they have completed their education.
Following the ruling, the sheikh issued a statement in which he stated that he “has always ensured that his children are provided for.”
Prior to Tuesday’s decision, the largest publicly known judge-ordered divorce award was 450 million pounds to the wife of billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov — though the two settled for less than one-third of that amount.
Princess Haya said during the case that she was “under siege,” and that the sheikh’s surveillance of her “could not be more intrusive and distressing,” according to the ruling. The only claim for financial provision she made for herself was for security and some lost personal possessions.
As part of the settlement, Judge Moor awarded the family over 5 million pounds a year to spend on vacations, including for flights on private jets. There’s nearly 300,000 pounds annually to cover the upkeep of their horses and other pets and even 39,000 pounds to install two trampolines.
Princess Haya said during the hearing that her reliance on periodical payments would put “incredible additional pressure” on the family because they will “be living always under the shadow of possible litigation.”
The judge acknowledged the “truly opulent and unprecedented standard of living enjoyed by these parties in Dubai” and said he had to reach “a conclusion as to what is reasonable while 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.”
