https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/intimidating-dubai-ruler-sheikh-mohammed-bin-rashid-al-maktoum-tried-to-buy-30-million-pound-house-next-to-ex-wife-haya-bint-al-hussein-2566834Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum tried to buy one of the most expensive properties for sale in Britain which overlooked his ex-wife's rural estate, in a "deliberate" act that was "intimidating", a senior British judge has ruled.
Agents acting for Mohammed were weeks away from exchanging contracts on the 30 million pound ($41 million) Parkwood estate when the sheikh's team decided to pull out of the deal.
His ex-wife, Jordanian Princess Haya bint al-Hussein, had raised the matter at the High Court in London as part of a legal battle, according to a published judgment.
Judge Andrew McFarlane, President of the Family Division in England and Wales, who has previously ruled that the Gulf ruler had waged a threatening campaign against Haya since she fled to England in 2019, said she justifiably regarded the property move as frightening.
"There can be no doubt that this deliberate behaviour, both in negotiating a purchase and then withholding information about it, by those who are acting for the benefit of the Dubai ruling family, will have had the effect of intimidating this mother to a very marked degree," he said in a ruling published on Wednesday.
Haya said she feared the plans would allow the sheikh - who the judge has also ruled hacked her phone and those of her lawyers - to spy on her or possibly try to abduct their two children.
"It feels like I am being stalked ... the prospect of Sheikh Mohammed, or those on his behalf buying the properties around Castlewood is terrifying and utterly wearing," she said in a written statement to the court.
