The High Court in London has ordered Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, to contribute a British record of more than 554 million pounds ($733 million) to settle a custody battle with his ex-wife over their two children.
According to the judge, Philip Moor, the bulk of the enormous judgement to Princess Haya bint al-Hussein, Jordan's King Abdullah's half-sister, and the couple's two children is to secure their lifetime security, not least to meet the "grave risk" posed to them by the sheikh himself.
"She is not seeking an award for herself other than for security," the judge noted, and to compensate her for the items she lost as a result of the porce.
He ordered Mohammed to pay Haya 251.5 million pounds in three months for the upkeep of her British residences, as well as money she claimed she owed for jewellery and racehorses, as well as future security expenditures.
The sheikh, who is also the UAE's vice president and prime minister, was also ordered to pay 3 million pounds towards the education of Jalila, 14, and Zayed, 9, as well as 9.6 million pounds in arrears. He was also ordered to pay £11.2 million per year for the children's upkeep and security when they reach adulthood.
These payments will be secured by a 290 million pound HSBC bank security. Despite the fact that some London attorneys believe the final sum is the greatest public award ever ordered by an English family court, it is less than half of the 1.4 billion pounds Haya had originally requested.
Haya, 47, spoke for over seven hours, claiming that a significant one-time payment would allow for a clean break and remove the sheikh's control over her and their children.
She told the court, "I genuinely want to be free, and I sincerely want them to be free."
Following the judgement, the sheikh's spokeswoman stated that he "has always guaranteed that his children are catered for" and requested that the media respect their privacy. A request for response from Haya's lawyer was not immediately returned.
The settlement is the latest chapter in a legal process that began when the princess fled to the United Kingdom in April 2019, fearing for her safety after having an affair with one of her bodyguards and a month after asking the sheikh for a porce.
Later that year, a London court concluded that Mohammed had terrorised her with threats and intimidation, and that he had previously abducted and mistreated two of his kids from a previous marriage.
Mohammed had also ordered the phones of Haya and her lawyers, one of whom is a parliamentary lawmaker, to be hacked using the sophisticated "Pegasus" state security software, according to the President of the Family Division in England and Wales, a senior court.
Haya has made no formal request for a porce settlement. She did not provide an explanation, but her lawyers claimed that as the ex-wife of one of the world's wealthiest men, she would have been entitled to billions.
"The mother's pecuniary claims, and the magnitude of the relief sought, are very unprecedented," the sheikh's lawyer, Nigel Dyer, told the court during sessions that were not reported until Tuesday.
He claimed that her demands were unreasonable and that she was asking for herself under the pretext of her children. He further accused the princess of squandering the children's cash, alleging that she paid 6.7 million pounds to blackmailers who were members of her security team in order to keep the affair hidden.
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