A Dubai Princess Just Fled Her Royal Husband After He Reportedly Tortured His Daughter

Many refer to royal life as living in a gilded cage, but for Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, the expression hit close to home. According to The Daily Mail, the sixth wife of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Maktoum spent an entire year plotting an escape from Dubai after she discovered that her husband not only allegedly tortured his daughter, Princess Latifa, but lied about it. Princess Haya is currently believed to be hiding in the United Kingdom with her two children with the Sheikh.

Princess Latifa was the daughter of Sheikh Maktoum and Sheikha Houria bint Ahmed Al M’aash. However, when the princess attempted to flee Dubai for America, where she believed she could have a better life, she was captured by Emirati security forces. Before her capture, she made a series of videos where she said she had been imprisoned for years due to an earlier escape attempt as a teenager. It is believed that the princess still remains imprisoned.

At the time, Sheikh Maktoum told Princess Haya that Latifa had been the object of an extortion plot. However, after a meeting between Latifa and former Irish President Mary Robinson, Princess Haya started to ask questions about Latifa’s supposed abduction and realized that it had been a lie.

“Princess Haya finally learned the truth about what her husband did to his own daughter and feared the same could happen to her,” a source said on the princess’s decision to flee the country.

“She went along with what was said after Latifa escaped last year but found out for herself what she had endured and asked herself, what kind of man puts his own daughter in prison?”

The source added that the reason Sheikh Maktoum was able to maintain the illusion for so long was because of the separated nature of his multiple families.

“You have to understand that Princess Haya would have had almost nothing to do with Latifa. They were from separate families and might only have met on the odd occasion and lived in different palaces and had separate friends,” the source added.

It is believed that the princess left Dubai in May and is currently hiding out in London’s exclusive Kensington neighborhood with the two children she shares with the Sheikh. However, the Sheikh Maktoum is fighting for custody, and is taking his estranged wife to court. A hearing has been set for July 30.

Maktoum is one of the world’s richest men, with a family wealth of around $4 billion. He is also the vice president and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates.