Record-breaking payout after Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed divorce from Princess Haya

he Ruler of Dubai who waged an international campaign of intimidation against his Princess ex-wife after she fled their marriage must pay out more than £500 million in the UK’s biggest ever divorce settlement.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum will hand over £251.5 million to Princess Haya bint al-Hussein at the culmination of an extraordinarily acrimonious and sinister two-and-a-half year legal battle.

The 72-year-old Middle East powerbroker, who counts the Royal Family as personal friends, has also been ordered to pay £5.6 million a year to each of his two children, Jalila, 14, and Zayed, 9, to support their luxury lifestyle in the UK.

And in the record-breaking settlement, the Sheikh has been ordered to pay huge sums for military-grade security for his ex-wife and children, because – uniquely – they need protection from the threat he himself poses to their lives.

The payout was signed off by Mr Justice Moor last month and was made public on Tuesday, 32 months after Princess Haya dramatically fled from Dubai with her two children to seek sanctuary in London. She feels “hunted and haunted” and fears her children will be kidnapped and forced to return to their father.

On top of the huge security bill, Princess Haya will receive around £20 million to compensate her for jewellery, horses, cars, and haute couture clothing and handbags she left behind when she fled the 15-year marriage. She also hopes to recover treasured possessions including her Persian rug collection and ballet shoes from renowned dancer Dame Margot Fontaine a family heirloom.

A High Court judge ruled in March last year that the Sheikh had orchestrated a campaign of intimidation against the Princess while unsuccessfully bidding for his children to be brought back to the United Arab Emirates.

Sir Andrew MacFarlane, President of the Family Division, concluded the Sheikh had previously been behind the abductions of two of his other children, Shamsa and Latifa, when they tried to escape from his control. Shamsa was kidnapped from the streets of Cambridge and spirited out of the UK in 2000, while Latifa was captured on a boat off the coast of India in 2018.

And in October last year, it was revealed the Sheikh – who denies all allegations of wrongdoing - had been involved in a plot to hack the phones of Princess Haya, her lawyers, and security team during legal proceedings.

In Tueday’s ruling, Mr Justice Moor agreed that Princess Haya, 47, the half-sister of King Abdullah of Jordan, should receive her nine-figure payout upfront in full to try to free her “living always under the shadow” of her ex-husband.

The judge agreed to money for armoured cars and a squad of top-class security agents to counter the “clear and ever present risk” to the Princess and their children at their £95 million mansion near Kensington Palace and their country estate in Egham, Surrey.

“Given their status and the general threats of terrorism and kidnap faced in such circumstances, they are particularly vulnerable and need water-tight security to ensure their continued safety and security in this country”, he concluded.

“Most importantly in this regard, and absolutely uniquely, the main threat they face is from (Sheikh Mohammed) himself not from outside sources. This is compounded by the full weight of the State that he has available to him.”

The settlement is set to be the largest ever agreed by a British court, and includes money to provide for the children’s private education, luxury holidays, horses, and cars as well as the multi-million pound security detail.

Sheikh Mohammed obtained a divorce under Sharia Law in February 2019, weeks before Princess Haya fled from Dubai to London.

With her £10 million annual allowance withdrawn, she sold off £15.5 million of assets including her prized horses, jewellery and designer clothes collections to maintain the family’s normal lives.

Princess Haya focused the legal battle on money for her children, eschewing her own claims, but the court battle – waged in private for many months – has revealed the family’s “truly opulent and unprecedented standard of living” during the marriage.

They spent more than £1 million on private jets and luxury hotel stays during holidays to Italy and Greece, the court heard. They were waited on by a “phenomenal number of staff” in Dubai, said the judge.

Princess Haya spent millions on pedigree racehorses horses and entered some into the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She has now been awarded £5 million in the divorce to set up her own stables in the UK.

She and the Sheikh spent £10 million on a charity tackling extreme poverty in Jordan, and the Princess also bankrolled efforts by her brother, Prince Ali of Jordan, to become President of FIFA and campaign against corruption in football.

In the fallout from their divorce, the Sheikh – the powerhouse behind the Godolphin racing group - has been ordered to pay for a £1.9 million kitchen extension with pizza oven at the Kensington mansion, a £280,000 art studio refurbishment, a new garage to house the fleet of security vehicles, and £39,000 on two Somersault Sunken Trampolines – replicating the ones the children had in Dubai.

Money has been set aside for private jets for holidays, helicopter rides on weekends away, and ponies and pets for the children.

“Money was no object during the marriage”, remarked the judge, as he agreed to the lengthy list of expenses that the Sheikh will pay for.

Sheikh Mohammed is due to pay the £251 million lump sum to his ex-wife by the end of February. He will put up a £290 million bank guarantee for £5.6 million-a-year payments to each of his children, pay £3.04 million into an educational fund for the children, and settle £9.6 million in backdated money owed since 2019.