Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is an Emirati sheikha and a Dubai ruling family member. Her father, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is the prime minister of the UAE, and her mother, Huriah Ahmed al M’aash, and is from Algeria.
Her Siblings
She has two half-sisters with the same name. She is the full sister of Sheikha Maitha (born 1980), Sheikha Shamsa (born 1981), and Sheikh Majid (born 1987).
Her unsuccessful escape
Sheikha Latifa escaped from Dubai in late February 2018 and was forcibly returned from international waters near the Indian coast by a joint India–Emirates operation on 4 March 2018. In December 2018, the Dubai royal court said that she was back in Dubai. She is believed to currently be held under the order of her father, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Why she’s quite?
For three years, the world had heard nothing from Princess Latifa, whose father, Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum is one of the world’s richest men. In recent videos, she told her story in her own words for the first time. Princess Latifa says she was beaten, drugged, and imprisoned in jail. She has been locked away in a royal villa with bars on the windows and placed under armed guard. She is a hostage, wants her passport, and to be free to leave the UAE.
The UAE embassy responded to the videos on Friday, releasing a statement thanking those concerned for Princess Latifa and saying she is being cared for at home with support from her family and medical professionals. They added: “She continues to improve, and we are hopeful she will return to public life at the appropriate time.”
One key event impacting this story’s reporting was that what happened to Latifa was examined during a High Court battle between the sheik and his now-former wife, Princess Haya bint al Hussein. In findings made public in March 2020, Sir Andrew McFarlane, presiding over the case, accepted the sheik had been responsible for the kidnapping and detention of Latifa.
The senior British judge also accepted the princess’s account that she had been drugged, beaten, and detained following a previous escape in 2002.
What happened in the court
Eyewitness testimony from Princess Haya was also accepted. She told the court she visited Latifa in December 2018 and found she “was held against her will” and “locked in a house, guarded against the outside and the inside.”
The sheik rejected the judgment, accusing it of being biased. In a statement released at the time, he said: “As a head of government, I was not able to participate in the court’s fact-finding process. This has resulted in the release of a ‘fact-finding judgment which inevitably tells only one side of the story.”
UN feels concern
After the UN last week demanded proof of Latifa’s safety, the royal ruling family issued a statement claiming she was being cared for at home’. However, no evidence of life was provided. Ex-UN rights envoy Mary Robinson, who had described Latifa as a “troubled young woman” after meeting her in 2018, now says she was “horribly tricked” by the princess’s family. The former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and president of Ireland has joined calls for international action to establish Latifa’s current condition and whereabouts. “I continue to be very worried about Latifa. Things have moved on. And so I think it should be investigated,” she said.
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