Princess Haya makes rare public appearance to attend committal service for Queen at Windsor Castle – a day after her ex, the ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum paid visit to Buckingham Palace to meet King Charles

• The princess was seen today with her brother, Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan
• Meanwhile her ex-husband attended a Buckingham Palace reception yesterday
• Relations between the pair are thought to be frosty after their divorce last year
• In the divorce Princess Haya was awarded £554million by a High Court judge
• The Queen’s funeral: All the latest Royal Family news and coverage

Princess Haya bint Hussein has made a rare public appearance to attend a committal service for the Queen in Windsor.

The princess came to pay her respects to the late monarch with her brother Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan before this afternoon’s service at St George’s Chapel.

It came a day after her ex-husband, Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, paid a visit to Buckingham Palace to meet King Charles at a reception on the eve of the Queen’s funeral.

There had been concerns the Sheikh Mohammed could come into contact with Prince Hassan at yesterday’s reception, a potentially awkward encounter after Princess Haya’s divorce from the Sheikh.

The sheikh, a horse race-loving friend of the Royal Family and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, has been accused by one of his own daughters of keeping her hostage against her will, the High Court heard. He has consistently denied the allegations. 

Last year the High Court in London granted the princess full custody of the two children she had with Sheikh Mohammed after a lengthy divorce battle.

She was also awarded £554million – the biggest ever divorce settlement in the UK – which will mainly be spent on security for her two children Jalila, 14, and Zayed, nine.

Since then she has laid down roots in the English countryside and was a friend of the Queen, with the pair sharing a love of horses and equestrian.

She was one of many close friends of Her Majesty to attend the committal service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor this afternoon, where the Queen was finally laid to rest after more than a week of national mourning.

Princess Haya bint Al Hussein (right) and her brother Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan (second right) were seen attending a committal service for the Queen in Windsor this afternoon

It marks a rare public appearance for Princess Haya, who was last year awarded more than £500million in her divorce with the ruler of Dubai

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum was pictured arriving at a reception at Buckingham Palace on the eve of the Queen’s funeral

Princess Haya did not attend the Queen’s funeral at Westminster Abbey, with her half-brother King Abdullah II representing the nation of Jordan, along with his wife Queen Rania

While the princess did attend the committal service, she did not go to the Queen’s funeral at Westminster Abbey earlier in the day, with her half-brother King Abdullah II representing Jordan with his wife Queen Rania. 

Earlier this week Princess Haya moving spoke of how she had been comforted by the Queen after her mother died in a helicopter crash in 1977, and following the death of her father King Hussein in 1999.

Speaking to Reuters outside her country home a few days ago, Princess Haya said: ‘I think we’ll never, ever see a queen like that (again) and we never have before.’

‘I remember after my late father died, and my late mother died, Her Majesty was kind enough to have special words for my younger brother and I and to make sure that we were alright.

‘She’s been for me, as everyone else, a constant thread in nearly every aspect of our lives. I think there was not a decision made or a time when I didn’t think “what would Her Majesty do?” or “What would Her Majesty say?”.

‘She was, I think, to all walks of society and to so many people around the world… an example and an inspiration to look up to. And I did so like so many others.’

The princess, who was educated in England and went to Oxford University when she was younger, filed for divorce from Sheikh Mohammed in 2019.

Princess Haya fled Dubai to Britain in 2019 fearing for her safety, and successfully argued in court that her children would be at risk from being kidnapped by their father after claiming in court that he forcibly returned Princesses Latifa and Shamsa when they attempted to flee the UAE. These claims have been denied by her now ex-husband.

Princess Latifa was abducted from a yacht off the coast of India in 2017 and Princess Shamsa was abducted while in Cambridge and returned to Dubai in 2000. 

Before the Queen’s funeral yesterday the best friend of Princess Latifa said Sheikh Mohammed should not have been invited.

Tiina Jauhiainen told MailOnline that the ruler of Dubai must be snubbed by Buckingham Palace and the British Government along with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud.

Ms Jauhiainen told MailOnline: ‘I don’t think a person with his reputation should be invited to the Queen’s funeral.

‘I hope we are not going to be seeing MBS [what the Crown Prince is colloquially known as] either.’

Sheikh Mohammed and Princess Haya divorced in 2019 after her affair with one of her bodyguards. Pictured: The princess and sheikh at Royal Ascot in June 2008

In their divorce proceedings, the court ordered Sheikh Mohammed to pay £554million to his ex-wife, including a lump sum payment of £251million.

The prince must also provide a £290m HSBC bank guarantee for his children underpinning an £11m annual maintenance payment, as well as ongoing security costs for them as adults, £3m to cover their education and £9.6m in maintenance arrears.

Lawyers for the princess had argued tight security was needed to keep her and the children safe from her ex-husband.

Mr Justice Moor declared in a 73 page judgement that there was a ‘clear and ever-present risk’ to the princess and her two young children and that Sheikh Mohammed was the ‘main threat to her’.

The judgement revealed how Princess Haya alleged that she had paid out £7million to ‘blackmailers’ on her security staff to keep secret her affair with her British bodyguard, Russell Flowers, which led to the breakdown of her marriage. 

The billionaire Dubai ruler has previously been found on the balance of probabilities to have abducted two of his adult daughters, Shamsa (left) and Latifa (right) 

While the award allows the princess to continue to live in the life of luxury she enjoyed as the sheikh’s sixth wife, it is £900m less than what her lawyers had originally demanded.

Mr Justice Moor wrote in his judgment: ‘There will remain a clear and present risk to HRH for the remainder of her life, whether it be from HH (her ex) or just the normal terrorist and other threats faced by the princess in her position.’

Sheikh Mohammed was also found to have had his agents ‘hack’ the phones of his ex-wife and her lawyers, including Baroness Fiona Shackleton.

Source: Read Full Article