Princess Haya Bint al-Hussein, the sixth wife of Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai, has fled the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) with her two children and is reportedly hiding in London, "afraid for her life."
The sheikh, 69, a billionaire and owner of the Godolphin horse racing stables in Dubai, married Princess Haya in 2004 but the marriage has reportedly soured, as evidenced by a scathing poem the wrote and posted on Instagram on June 22. Alluding to infidelity, the poem, posted in Arabic and entitled "You Lived and You Died," called for the princess to go back to "who you have been busy with."
DUBAI RULER'S DAUGHTER MYSTERIOUSLY VANISHES AFTER ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE FATHER'S CLUTCHES, EX-SPY SAYS
"Your days of lying are over and it doesn't matter what we were and what you are. You no longer have any place with me. Go to who you have been busy with! I don't care if you live or you die," Sheikh Mohammed wrote.
Princess Haya was reportedly last seen in public on May 20, after which she fled the U.A.E. and sought asylum in Germany. According to reports by India Today, a German diplomat helped her and her children flee her husband, and German authorities have refused Sheikh Mohammed's request to have his wife returned to Dubai, a move some have speculated could lead to diplomatic tensions between the two nations, but which the U.A.E. has denied.
“The U.A.E. government does not intend to comment on allegations about individuals’ private lives. As for whether it has raised such an issue with its German or British counterparts, the answer is no," a spokesperson for the U.A.E. Embassy told The Guardian.
Still, the domestic dispute between the royal couple may have widespread implications on international affairs of other countries as well, as Princess Haya is the half-sister of King Abdullah of Jordan, a nation that has 200,000 citizens working in the U.A.E., who pay remittances to bolster Jordan’s economy.