In 2001, Sheikha
Shamsa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum alleged that she was kidnapped off the streets of
Cambridge by her father Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s men. Sheikha
Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum also alleged that she was kidnapped off the coast of India on the orders of her father. She has stated that she was detained under police guard in Dubai. The actions taken against the princesses was allegedly motivated by a desire to protect the reputation of the Al Maktoum family. On 29 June 2019,
The Sun reported that the wife of Sheikh Mohammed, Princess
Haya bint Al Hussein, had fled Dubai and was in
Germany seeking
political asylum along with her children son and daughter. The cause of the departure was unknown, despite a poem reportedly composed by Dubai’s ruler alluding to betrayal. On 30 July 2019 at the High Court, she filed for the
sole custody of their two children, for a
forced marriage protection order (FMPO), a
non-molestation order, and non-
repatriation to Dubai. In December 2019, a UK family court ruled that
on the balance of probabilities Sheikh Mohammed had orchestrated the abductions of Sheikha Latifa and Sheikha Shamsa and that he continued to maintain a regime whereby both were deprived of their liberty, and had subjected his former wife, Princess Haya, to a campaign of "intimidation"; the findings were published in March 2020. ==See also==