A London court has awarded the former wife of Dubai’s ruler a record-breaking divorce settlement of more than £550 million, offering a wild glimpse into the lifestyle of one of the world’s richest and most private families.
As per Forbes, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, was ordered to pay his ex-wife Princess Haya bint al-Hussein and their two children £554 million, much of which will go to covering military-grade security costs for the rest of their lives that will protect them… from him!
Princess Haya bint Al Hussein said she feared for her life after Sheikh Mohammed had previously ordered that two of his other children be forced back to the United Arab Emirates. Princess Haya later discovered that Sheikh Mohammed, who is also the prime minister of the U.A.E., had divorced her months earlier under Shariah law without her knowing. How cheeky is that?
Prince Haya bint Al Hussain was awarded a lump sum of £251.5 million, to be paid within three months, and annual payments including for the maintenance of an £87.5 million estate near Kensington Palace in West London and about £277,000 for show horses. Which just goes to show what a completely different world these people live in.
The settlement also includes provisions for holidays, the maintenance of various ponies and pets and the salaries for a nurse and nanny. Sorted!
Now it does seem like divorce proceedings and settlements are weighed HEAVILY against males every single time, but reading the details of the case, this Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum is a real piece of work. The judges heard how he subjected his former wife to a campaign of “intimidation,” including using spyware to hack into and monitor her phone and those of her staff, and that he had abducted and imprisoned two of his daughters from a previous marriage. He also published a poem titled ‘You Lived, You Died’, which was “widely assumed to threaten the Princess”.
Not that Princess Haya bint Al Hussein is an innocent angel in all of this, mind. According to the Sheikh’s lawyer, she had used £6.7 million of his fortune to pay off members of her former security team who blackmailed her after she had an affair with one of them.
Fun fact about the sort of money this couple had to play around with… while married, they once spent £2 million on strawberries in a single summer. 2 million! On strawberries! In one summer!
Well anyway, I’m pretty surprised that a billionaire Dubai ruler can be ruled by a London court to do anything he doesn’t want to (especially something as wild as paying his ex-wife £554 million), but I guess that’s pocket change to him in the grand scheme of things. Plus it’s not like he worked his ass off or grinded away making investments to accumulate that sort of insane wealth. He was born into oil money and royalty, and this is his sixth wife! So yeah, kinda tough to feel sorry for him. At 72 years old of age and worth multiple billions, I’m sure he’ll be OK.
For the billionaire who put up a massive portrait of him & his new wife in NYC to make his ex-wife jealous, click HERE. That’s billionaire trolling!
