Thread by @stuartmillar159

BBC News - Princess Haya: Dubai ruler's wife in UK 'in fear of her life'

This comes after two of Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum's daughters, Shamsa and Latifa, tried to escape and were both caught, returned to Dubai and held against their will.

bbc.co.uk/news/world-mid…

Per BBC's @FrankRGardner: "Sources close to her have said that Princess Haya had recently discovered disturbing facts behind the mysterious return to Dubai last year of Sheikha Latifa, one of the ruler's daughters."

If confirmed, this is a huge deal.

It was Princess Haya who invited former Irish president Mary Robinson to Dubai last year for a stage-managed public appearance with Latifa

Robinson parroted the Maktoum line that Latifa was "troubled" and "in the loving care of her family"

The Robinson visit happened after this brilliant BBC documentary, Escape From Dubai, put huge international pressure on the crown prince over his daughter's capture and disappearance #FreeLatifa

bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b…

In December 2001, @wilsonjamie and I revealed that British police were investigating a complaint that Latifa's older sister, Shamsa, had been kidnapped from a Cambridge street by members of her father's staff and returned to Dubai against her will.

theguardian.com/uk/2001/dec/10…

@wilsonjamie She hasn't been seen in public since. In this video posted to YouTube, Latifa claimed that Shamsa was held captive and tortured after being forcibly returned to Dubai

Despite all this, Mohammed Al Maktoum is still feted by the British establishment as one of the world's most important racehorse owners.

Here he is with the Queen at Royal Ascot the week before last

(Pic: Facundo Arrizabalaga / EPA)

Addendum: Mary Robinson appears to be distancing herself here from the Maktoums, telling Irish reporters today that she was and still is friends only with Haya, not the rest of the family.

irishtimes.com/news/world/mid…

NYT take on Haya fleeing Dubai for London with her young children, includes Sheikh Mohammed's angry - and awful – poetry apparently about their split

(He sees himself as a poet and regularly publishes the stuff online)

nytimes.com/2019/07/02/wor…