Ruler of Dubai ordered to pay record $730M to ex-wife and their kids
The ruler of Dubai was ordered to pay his princess ex-wife and their children more than $730 million in the most expensive divorce settlement in British history.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, 72, was ordered in London’s High Court to pay the staggering amount to sixth wife Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein — who had been used to “limitless” funding before fleeing their marriage in 2019 after cheating with a bodyguard who blackmailed her.
The sheikh was given three months to come up with a $333 million lump sum for the princess — as well as more than $16 million he owed for the education of their children, Jalila, 14, and Zayed, 9.
He was also ordered to create a bank guarantee of $385 million to cover future payments for the kids, who live with their mom in a mansion near London’s Kensington Palace worth more than $115 million.
“I remind myself that money was no object during the marriage,” Judge Philip Moor wrote in his record-setting ruling.
In addition, the settlement included nearly $18 million for jewelry and more than $1 for haute couture that the princess left in Dubai when she fled — as well as $6.5 million for annual vacations.
She was even approved more than $2.5 million to re-do her kitchen, including a pizza oven — even though the mansion had just had a nearly $120 million refurbishment just a few years ago.
“She is not, in the context of this case, wealthy,” her lawyer, Cusworth, said — noting her ex-husband was so rich he once spent more than $2.5 million buying strawberries for his UK estate one summer.
“The actual value of money is very different to any normal mortal involved in this case or any litigant who normally comes before this court,” Cusworth said.
The court was told the princess had been forced to sell cherished items worth more than $20 million — including race horses — to maintain her lifestyle while awaiting the outcome of the case.
Judge Philip Moor said his record ruling was based on the “exceptional circumstances of this case, such as the truly opulent and unprecedented standard of living enjoyed by these parties in Dubai.”
The bulk of the money, however, was to cover lifelong security for the princess and her children because of the “grave risk” of abduction by Al-Maktoum, the judge said.
“Most importantly in this regard, and absolutely uniquely, the main threat they face is from [Al-Maktoum] himself not from outside sources,” the judge said of the sheikh, who is also vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates.
Separate UK High Court rulings concluded Al-Maktoum — a leading race-horse breeder — had previously abducted and mistreated two of his daughters by another marriage, and hacked the phones of Haya and her lawyers.
The sheikh has denied these claims.
The princess’ current head of security — who was given complete anonymity to testify — had warned of “a serious risk of her being killed or harmed and the children being abducted.”
“I am entirely satisfied that this means that … they are particularly vulnerable and need water-tight security,” the judge had ruled.
“There can be no compromise in this area,” the judge said as he also approved millions of a fleet of armored vehicles as well as private parking for them. “It is far better to be safe rather than sorry.”
Haya, 47, who was the youngest of the sheik’s six wives, fled to the UK in April 2019, fearing for her safety after she began an affair with one of her bodyguards, the court was told.
That bodyguard — who was identified in court — then blackmailed her along with other members of the security team, with the princess so fearful that she paid them nearly $9 million to hide the affair, the court heard.
After learning of his wife’s affair, Sheikh Mohammed published a poem titled ’You Lived; You Died,” which Princess Haya interpreted as a threat.
During almost seven hours of testimony, Haya said a large one-off payment would allow for a clean break and remove the sheikh’s hold over her and their children.
“I really want to be free and I want them to be free,” she told the court.
The final tally of around $733 million is the most ever ordered by a British court, beating the previous record of around $600 million that Russian billionaire Farkad Akhmedov was made to pay in his 2016 divorce.
Still, it is less than half of the $1.85 billion that had been sought by Haya — who had been used to “limitless” funds during her marriage, her lawyers told the court.
She had an annual budget of around $110 million for her household in Dubai with another $12 million spending money, the ruling noted.
The sheikh’s lawyer, Nigel Dyer, had tried to fight the huge payout, calling it “absurd,” “ridiculous” and “quite unprecedented.”
He also accused the princess of misusing the children’s funds, noting the roughly $8.8 million she paid to blackmailers over her affair.
It was “the largest financial remedy award certainly ever ordered and I imagine ever made by a family court,” Dyer said of Tuesday’s ruling.
A spokesman for Sheikh Mohammed said in a statement that the ruler “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.”
Haya’s blackmailing lover, meanwhile, was only identified in court as “Mr. D,” and was described as a married former British soldier employed as her close protection officer, according to the Times of London.
“It sticks in the throat that these people have been able to get away with this and have not been prosecuted,” the judge said.
The sheikh is also the founder of the successful Godolphin horse racing stable and once received a trophy from Queen Elizabeth II after one of his horses won a race at Royal Ascot.
With Post wires
