Dubai’s billionaire ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum inflicted ‘exorbitant’ domestic abuse on his ex-wife Princess Haya, a senior British judge has concluded, as he awarded her sole responsibility for looking after their children.
The ruling caps the end of an extraordinary, bitter and hugely expensive three-year custody battle at the High Court in London between Mohammed and his former wife, Princess Haya bint al-Hussein, half-sister of Jordan’s King Abdullah.
In a judgment published today, senior judge Sir Andrew McFarlane said Sheikh Mohammed, 72, ‘consistently displayed coercive and controlling behaviour with respect to those members of his family who he regards as behaving contrary to his will’.
Sir Andrew – the most senior family court judge in England and Wales – limited Sheikh Mohammed’s parental responsibility for his daughter and son, Al Jalila, 14, and Zayed, 10.
Princess Haya will now have sole responsibility for their two children in regards to their medical care and schooling.
Sheikh Mohammed’s relationship with the children will be limited to phone calls and messages after the sheikh himself decided not to pursue direct contact with them, Sir Andrew said.
The London court has previously ruled the Dubai ruler had made Haya fear for her life, had abducted and mistreated two of his daughters by another marriage, and had ordered the phones of Haya and her lawyers, one a British lawmaker, to be hacked using the state security software ‘Pegasus’.
The ruling is expected to be the final significant decision in the court case between Sheikh Mohammed and his sixth wife Princess Haya, 47, who fled the United Arab Emirates in April 2019, having become ‘terrified’ of her then-husband.
She was previously awarded £554 million by the court in Britain’s biggest ever divorce settlement.
The decision to afford the mother sole responsibility for these important matters is justified by the need to reduce the potential for continuing harm to the children,’ Sir Andrew ruled, finding the co-parenting relationship was ‘entirely bankrupt’.
After the ruling, a statement on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed said: ‘He loves his children and cherishes their love for him. He has always cared and provided for them, and always will.
‘He maintains his denial of the allegations made in these contentious proceedings, and asks that the media respect the privacy of his children and do not intrude into their lives.’
After fleeing to the UK nearly three years ago, Princess Haya applied for the children to be made wards of court and asked the High Court to make a series of findings about Sheikh Mohammed.
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