By Lucy Caulkett-
Princess Haya Bint al-Hussein, (pictured),one of the wives of the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum will have refuge in the Uk after escaping Jordan where she lives in fear of her life.
The princess is in hiding in London and fears abduction fleeing her very controlling husband, who is most likely drunk with power. His fleeing wife spent a lot of time in the UK as a child, and was educated at the private, all-girls Badminton School near Bristol. She later studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) at Oxford University. Experts believe she will be given refuge in the Uk because of her close ties to the country.
It could raise diplomatic challenges between the two countries, who normally have a good relationship, but it will be at the discretion of the Uk to grant the princess refuge here, and they will. The Uk has strong laws and principles about gender equality and equality of treatment, and these are consideration that always weigh high in The Home Office today said they don’t comment on individual cases.
Her 69 year old Sheikh Mohammed, who has six wives, posted a furious poem on Instagram accusing an unidentified woman of “treachery and betrayal”. The Jordanian-born and British-educated Princess Haya, 45, married Sheikh Mohammed – owner of Godolphin horse racing stables – in 2004, becoming his sixth and “junior wife”.
The Sheikh Mohammed is believed to have 23 children by different wives. Princess Haya fled initially this year to Germany to seek asylum, and now said to be living in a £85m ($107m) town house in Kensington Palace Gardens, in central London, and preparing for a legal battle in the High Court.
The BBC reported that sources close to her have say Princess Haya had recently made disturbing discoveries behind the mysterious return to Dubai last year of Sheikha Latifa, who one of the ruler’s daughters. After she fled UAE, she was intercepted by armed men off the coast of India and returned to Dubai. Now she has escaped to the United Kingdom, the question is how the story will go from here.
When Sheikha Latifa tried to flee the country last year. a video that spread worldwide, the 33-year-old princess claimed in a video that went world wide that she and her family “did not have freedom of choice” in their lives, and that she had been subjected to abuse.
Now Princess Haya Bint al-Hussein fears she will be abducted if she returns to Dubai,, having experienced the domineering male orientated culture in Dubai. Women don’t have any rights in countries like Dubai, whose main asset is oil and major tourist attractions. In the Uk, Sheikha Latifa will have a safe haven, and her High Court battle will be very interesting.
She later studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) at Oxford University.Her escape sheds further light on the pressures faced by women in some of these very patriarchal countries.There needs to be global intervention to prevent national leaders, no matter their world standing, to dominate women to the extent they feel so unsafe to flee their oppressor. Britain will happily give her refuge.