The Times - UK (2021-12-22)

6 Wednesday December 22 2021 | the times

News

The ruler of Dubai has been ordered to
pay his youngest wife and their two
children a record £554 million settle-
ment after a bitter divorce.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-
Maktoum, 72, was found to pose a seri-
ous security risk to his former wife Prin-
cess Haya bint al-Hussein, 47, the sister
of King Abdullah II of Jordan.
The princess fled to London in fear
for her life in 2019 with their two child-
ren — Jalila, now 14, and Zayed, nine —
after her husband discovered that she
was having an affair with her male
bodyguard.
The settlement surpasses the record
£453 million that the Russian business-
man Farkhad Akhmedov, 66, was or-
dered to pay his ex-wife Tatiana, 49,
before a £150 million deal was agreed.
It includes a lump sum payment of
£251 million, a bank guarantee of
£290 million and education and past
security costs.
Legal bills in the case have surpassed
£140 million. Princess Haya has spent
more than £70 million on a team includ-
ing the Conservative peer Baroness
Shackleton of Belgravia; the sheikh’s
team includes Lord Pannick QC.
The princess, who was the youngest
of the sheikh’s six wives, did not want a
share of her husband’s wealth for her-
self but sought £1.4 billion maintenance
for their two children, their security
costs and compensation for assets he
had seized.
Haya, who is now a senior diplomat
at the Jordanian embassy in London,
told the family division of the High
Court that she was being “hunted and
harassed” by her former husband and
that the risk from Dubai would con-
tinue even after he dies.
The sheikh said he had no intention
of harming Haya despite the High
Court having ruled that he had abduct-
ed two of his adult daughters — the
princesses Latifa and Shamsa —
because they tried to escape his control.
The court had also ruled that the
sheikh was responsible for hacking the
phones of Haya and her lawyers, in-
cluding Shackleton.
Mr Justice Moor, in a ruling pub-
lished yesterday, has allocated £11 mil-
lion a year for the security of Haya and
her children. He ordered that the
sheikh provide the £290 million bank
guarantee and a backdated £10 million
to provide lifetime security for the prin-
cess and the children until they have
completed their education.
The judge told the sheikh to pay the
£251 million lump sum for child mainte-
nance and to compensate for the loss of

jewellery, haute couture clothing and

horses, plus £3 million for the children’s

private education.

When Haya fled the royal Beach Pal-

ace in Dubai, she claims to have left jew-

ellery worth at least £20 million in a

walk-in safe. Large pieces containing

diamonds, sapphires and emeralds had

been gifts from the sheikh and other

heads of state. Video played to the court

showed only costume jewellery worth

£20,000, the princess said.

The sheikh, who is vice-president

and prime minister of the United Arab

Emirates, was ordered to pay his former

wife £13.7 million for the jewellery,

£1 million for designer clothing and

£5 million for racing horses. The judge

allocated £5.1 million a year for the

princess and the children to take holi-

days. A total of £277,000 a year was allo-

cated for the cost of the children’s po-

nies and other pets, and £450,077 for

two nannies, two nurses and a tutor

who all live with the family.

For the cost of running the Castle-

wood House estate, Haya’s £4.5 million

home in Egham, Surrey, she was allo-

cated £1 million, and £2.2 million to run

her £95 million home near Kensington

Palace in west London.

A spokesman for the sheikh said: “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.”

Haya and Mohammed were married

in 2004 and the sheikh had given the

princess £10 million a year and their

children a total of £20 million. He di-

vorced her under sharia without her

knowledge in February 2019.

During the case, the sheikh objected

to Haya’s claim for a £1.4 billion settle-

ment, saying: “The children’s previous

lifestyle in Dubai was self-evidently

predicated on their living in Dubai as

part of the ruling family of Dubai.”

He added: “This does not provide a

meaningful basis for comparison with

the children’s completely different lifes-

tyle and roles now that they live in En-

gland... In Dubai, the children had

privileged status, but they also had limi-

tations and responsibilities that came

with that status.”

Princess Haya bint al-Hussein’s award

of £554 million yesterday shows that

the rich continue to flock to London’s

High Court for divorce battles.

It is also a stark illustration of how the

value of awards is rocketing. In 2007

Beverley Charman was awarded

£48 million after splitting from her hus-

band, John, who was the head of the

Axis insurance group. At the time, the

award was the biggest in Britain and

made legal history by granting the wife

more than a third of the couple’s assets,

despite the fact that she had not con-

tributed directly to the amassing of

them. In that case the wife was awarded

36.5 per cent of the couple’s assets.

In 2014 that percentage was roughly

repeated in the divorce battle between

Jamie and Christopher Cooper-Hohn.

Kevin Manning was wearing the green
and black silks of Princess Haya bint al-
Hussein when he rode New Approach
to win the 2008 Epsom Derby.
The victory was another triumph for
the princess who, with her husband
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-
Maktoum, was one of the most power-
ful figures in British equestrianism and
a member of the Queen’s racing circle.
It has now emerged that Haya de-
manded £75 million in compensation
from Mohammed, the ruler of Dubai,
accusing him of seizing 62 of her race-
horses and 21 showjumpers during
their divorce. The £554 million divorce
judgment offers a rare insight into the
running of the sheikh’s celebrated
Godolphin stables, which is alleged to
effectively bankroll British racing.

Haya of exaggerating the valuations of

many of the horses. He gave the exam-

ple of Ben Vrackie, which Haya valued

at £400,000 but which sold for £20,000.

Moor ruled in the family division of

the High Court that the horses did not

legally belong to Haya and the £15 mil-

lion “winnings” had been a “generous

gift” from her husband. He ruled that

the princess, a former president of the

Award sizes

Jonathan Ames Legal Editor

Rare glimpse into how sheikh finances horseracing

Mr Justice Moor ruled that Haya’s race-

horses actually belonged to Godolphin,

and the showjumpers she bought to

compete at the Tokyo Olympics were

partially funded from her children’s

bank accounts.

The princess said that more than 400

horses had run under her name but

some had been transferred without her

consent into the name of the sheikh’s

Godolphin stable in Newmarket,

Suffolk. The princess said she received

£15 million in winnings in March 2018.

New Approach had been given to her

by Mohammed on the birth of their

daughter, Jalila, the princess said. She

said the horse’s stud fees, which ran to

many millions, had been retained by

Godolphin. Mohammed said the nomi-

nation to family members to permit his

horses to run in their colours was mere-

ly “a licence”. Mohammed accused

International Equestrian Federation,

who had served on the International

Olympic Committee, should receive

£5 million from her former husband to

buy a “few reasonable horses” and run

a “small operation” for several years.

Haya, a sister of King Abdullah II of

Jordan, competed in the 2000 Sydney

Olympics and was hoping to enter a

team for the 2020 Tokyo Games when

her marriage collapsed. She spent

£13.5 million of their children’s money

buying horses for the bid and is herself

owed £1.25 million, the court was told.

Aralyn Blue was paid for with money

taken from the account of Haya’s son,

Zayed, who is now nine. Irenice Horta

and Chianti’s Champion, which cost

£2.6 million, were bought with money

from the account of her daughter, Jalila,

14. Haya said she would sell the horses
    to refund the children’s accounts.

David Brown

Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin stable

News Sheikh divorce

Record £554m divorce payout to

David Brown
Chief News Correspondent

Life of luxury

Some of the costs awarded to Princess Haya Bint al-Hussein and her children

£11m Security

costs per year

£10m Refurb of

London home

every ten years

£3m Refurb of

country home

every ten years

£1.9m Kitchen

extension, pizza

oven and kitchen

curtains at London home

£1m Leisure

activities per year

£820,

Security upgrade at

two homes

£644,

Princess’s private

office in London

£510,000 Costs

of household staff

at London home near

Kensington Palace and

country mansion in

Egham, Surrey

£280,

Art studio

refurbishment at

country mansion

£235,450 Tw o

ponies and one

horse for children

including food, livery

and staff costs

£216,

New kitchen at

country mansion

£171,

Nurses including

accommodation

£145,

Nannies including

accommodation

£139,

Princess’s private

office in Jordan

£133,

Tutor including

accommodation

£90,

Annual food and

consumables for

households

£64,

Bulletproof

blankets and shields

£41,

Other pets

£39,000 Tw o

trampolines at

country mansion

£17,879 Thermal

imaging camera

£13,

Dovecotes at

country mansion

£4,141 Automatic

number plate

recognition camera

Holidays

£5.1m Holidays

per year total,

including...

£2.4m Additional

security costs for

holidays

£1m Seven return

flights by private jet

£667,

Hotels abroad

£360,

Private jet flights

for three long weekends

in Jordan

£105,

Two week-long

holidays in UK

£36,

Three return

helicopter flights for

weekends/weeks away