Princess Haya and the royal women trying to flee Dubai

‘Sheikh Mohammed has been a prominent ambassador for modernity in the UAE. He has shown the country as a glitzy glamorous place to go. It’s modern, it’s Western and these three particular cases of Shamsa, Latifa and Haya have put a massive black cloud over the whole country,’ Radha Stirling, the CEO of Detained in Dubai, an advocacy group told TRT World, referring to three members of Sheikh Mohammed’s family who have either fled or have tried to escape the country.

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She was unhappy with the treatment of Shamsa. She said she had been forcibly drugged and had basically become a zombie with no life. She wanted to take Shamsa with her when she escaped. But she said she was in no state physically or mentally to be able to make such an escape,’ said Stirling, who campaigns for Sheikha Latifa.

‘People assumed she was drugged, that she was under duress and they are pretending that she is OK when she is not. That was the first time Princess Haya had met her apparently and also the last time that Princess Haya saw her.’ Stirling told TRT World.

Stirling, who has intelligence sources close to the palace, said: "She is having to make up essentially for her mistakes for damaging the reputation of the country. She is likely in a villa but very restricted." 

"If they could go to the police and they could get safety within their country, they probably wouldn’t flee. No one wants to abandon their entire county if they have protection within their country," Stirling said.

"If he wants a chance for the custody of his children, he has to cooperate with the UN investigation into Latifa's wellbeing as Haya’s lawyers will absolutely be arguing that her children are not safe with him when Latifa’s situation has been so public," says Stirling.