Defeated In London High Court, Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed Must Pay Rp10.4 Trillion To Princess Haya

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. (Wikimedia Commons/World Economic Forum)

JAKARTA - The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, has been ordered by the High Court in London, England to pay more than £544 million or around Rp10.4 trillion for the lawsuit of his ex-wife Princess Haya bint Al-Hussein.

Called a record in public prosecutions in Britain, the funds are said to have been largely earmarked for ensuring the safety of Princess Haya and her two children, given the huge risk the Sheikh poses to them, Judge Philip Moor said.

"He did not seek credit for himself other than for security" and to compensate him, for property lost as a result of the breakdown of the marriage, Judge Moor said, citing Reuters December 21.

He directed Sheikh Mohammed to make a one-time payment of £251.5 million over three months to Princess Haya for the upkeep of her British mansions, covering money she said she owed for jewellery and racehorses, and for her future security costs.

The sheikh, who is vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, was also ordered to pay 3 million pounds for the education of Jalila (14) and Zayed (9), as well as 9.6 million pounds in arrears. He was also asked to pay 11.2 million pounds a year for the care of the children, and for their safety when they grew up.

This payment will be secured through a £290 million security held by HSBC bank. The final amount, although believed by some London lawyers to be the largest public award ever ordered by a British family court, was less than half of the 1.4 billion pounds Haya was initially seeking.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. (Wikimedia Commons/Cybaaudi)

During nearly seven hours of testimony, Princess Haya said the hefty one-time payment would allow the severance of ties and release the sheikh's grip on him and their children.

"I really want to be free and I want them to be free," he told the court.

Following the ruling, the sheikh's spokesman said he "always made sure his children were protected" and asked the media to respect their privacy. Haya's lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The settlement is the latest development in a legal saga that began when the princess fled to Britain in April 2019, fearing for her safety after she began a relationship with one of her bodyguards, and a month after she asked the sheikh for a divorce.

Later that year, a London court ruled that Sheikh Mohammed had carried out a campaign of threats and intimidation that made him fear for his life, and that he had previously kidnapped and molested his two daughters in another marriage.

Earlier this year, the President of the Family Division in England and Wales, a senior judge, also ruled that Sheikh Mohammed had ordered the phones of Haya and her lawyers, one of whom is a member of parliament, to be hacked using state-of-the-art "Pegasus", state security software.

Princess Haya did not ask for a divorce settlement. She gave no explanation, but her lawyer said she was entitled to make billions of dollars as the ex-wife of one of the world's richest men.

"The claims to the mother's finances, and the size of the aid being sought, are unprecedented," the sheikh's lawyer, Nigel Dyer, told the court during a hearing that could not be reported until Tuesday.

Princess Haya bint Al Hussein. (Source: UN Photo/Evan Schneider)

He says her demands are overblown and she actually claims herself under the guise of her children. He also accused the princess of misappropriating children's funds, saying she had paid 6.7 million pounds to the blackmailer, who was part of his security team, to keep the affair a secret.

Meanwhile, the court did not hear from the alleged blackmailer. Princess Haya said she used money from children's accounts because she was afraid.

Separately, Haya's attorney, Nicholas Cusworth, said legal fees over the two and a half years had reached more than 70 million pounds, adding the true amount of the colossal amount spent by (Muhammad) will never be known.

Most of Princess Haya's demands will be used for security, according to settlement details. This is to keep the children safe from being abducted by their own fathers, the ruling said, including cash for a fleet of armored cars to be replaced every few years.

Moor said, Princess Haya and her children needed sufficient provisions to protect them from the sheikh, and because of their royal status.

"Totally unique, the main threat they face is from (the sheikh) himself not from outside sources. There will remain a clear and ever-present risk for (Haya) for the rest of her life, whether it be from (Muhammad) or just from ordinary terrorists," he explained, referring to the security threat someone in Haya's position faced.

To note, the largest previously estimated amount ordered by a British court was the 453.6 million pounds Russian billionaire Farkad Akhmedov ordered to pay for his 2016 divorce settlement.

Previously, Sheikh Mohammed had offered to pay a routine maintenance amount of £10 million a year and provided a guarantee of £500 million.