The Princess, The Sheikh And The £550 Million Divorce Settlement
In her latest blog, Timms Alison Wilding discusses one of the biggest divorce settlement cases in British legal history….
On Tuesday 20th December, the High Court awarded what is probably the biggest divorce settlement in British legal history.
The Case…
The case involved the billionaire ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum and the youngest of his six wives, Princess Haya Bint Al-Hussain who is the daughter of Jordan’s former King Hussein. She received a settlement of more than £500million to cover the cost of running two multi-million-pound properties, one next to London’s Kensington Palace and one in Egham, Surrey. The property in Surrey is where the Princess lives with her children, 14-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son, having fled to the UK in 2019 after fearing for her life and those of her children alleging threats made against her by the Sheikh. The settlement also took account of the outgoings that the Princess will have to incur such as holidays, salaries and accommodation for a nurse and nanny, armoured vehicles and maintaining ponies and pets.
Was The Outcome Excessive?
Although this seems to be excessive, the Court not only have to consider the needs of the parties but also their standard of living which clearly would have been extremely high whilst she was married to the Sheikh.
In addition, the Sheikh has to pay £5.6million a year for each of their two children. Usually child maintenance would be dealt with by the Child Maintenance Service but due to the wealth of the Sheikh, the Court are entitled to make a top-up maintenance order.
This case shows an insight into the wealth of middle eastern royal families and the types of orders that the courts in England and Wales are prepared to make.
If you would like to discuss any divorce or family law matters, please do not hesitate to contact me at a.wilding@timms-law.com or via phone on 01283 214231. Alternatively, you can visit the Family Law section of our website here.
December 2021