Princess Haya has hired Prince William and Harry's lawyer to fight her corner in a custody
battle with the emir of Dubai, and she's an expert in royal disputes.
Princess Haya intended to divorce Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai. At the opening of the court proceedings
at the High Court in London, it was made clear that Princess Haya is seeking custody of their
children, not a divorce.
Princess Haya of Jordan has enlisted the expertise of Baroness Shackleton, a lawyer frequently
used by the British royal family, to litigate custody proceedings against her husband, the
emir of Dubai, a colleague for the lawyer told Business Insider.
Princess Haya fled to London this month. According to the BBC, she left after learning worrying
details of the 2018 disappearance of Sheikha Latifa, one of her husband's, Emir Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, 23 children.
She is now suing for custody of the two children she shared with Sheikh Mohammed at the High
Court in London.
David Haigh, a lawyer for Sheikha Latifa, told Business Insider that Princess Haya has
enlisted Shackleton to handle the case.
She is a solicitor to Prince Harry and Prince William and has substantial experience in
high-stakes family cases.
Her former clients include Prince Charles, in his 1996 divorce of Princess Diana, and
Paul McCartney, in his 2008 divorce of Heather Mills.
Shackleton has yet to respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
A source close to Sheikh Mohammed told Business Insider that Lady Helen Ward, of the firm
Stewart's, would represent the sheikh during custody proceedings.
According to a Wednesday report by MailOnline, which cited sources close to Princess Haya,
the prompt for her departure from Dubai was finding out that Sheikha Latifa tried to run
away.
The outlet said Sheikh Mohammed had told Princess Haya that Sheikha Latifa was kidnapped as
part of an extortion attempt, rather than fleeing of her own free will.
A BBC documentary last year detailed how Sheikha Latifa spent seven years planning the escape.
The documentary details how Emirati commandos caught up with Princess Haya just off the
coast of Goa, India, in April, two weeks after she fled.
She was returned to Dubai and has not been heard from in public since.
In December, the Emirati Embassy in London said in a statement that she was alive and
"safe in Dubai."
Before her escape, Sheikha Latifa made a video to be released if her escape failed. In it,
Sheikha Latifa said she was fleeing physical and psychological abuse at the hands of her
father.
Haigh, the lawyer for Sheikha Latifa, told Business Insider that Princess Haya's lawsuit
would draw attention back onto the human-rights abuses in the United Arab Emirates.
It's good news for Latifa, as it's thrown what happened to her into a court which isn't
corrupt," he said. "That's good news for anyone who has been abused in the UAE."
Shackleton represented Prince Charles during his split from Princess Diana in 1996 and
represented Prince Andrew, Duke of York, during his divorce with Sarah, Duchess of York, the
same year.
She also represented the Beatles star Paul McCartney as he divorced Heather Mills in
2008.
Sheikh Mohammed, also an amateur poet, released a mysterious verse this week that appears
to allude to Princess Haya's escape to London.
A line in "Affection in Your Eyes" reads: "We have an ailment that no medicine can cure
/ No experts in herbs can remedy this."
Another of his daughters, Sheikha Shamsa, fled the family's English country estate in
a Range Rover in 2000 when she was 18, her friends told The Guardian. She was caught
and sent to Dubai.
Radha Stirling, the CEO of Detained in Dubai, an advocacy group campaigning for Sheikha
Latifa, said in a statement on Monday: "Princess Haya has every reason to fear the consequences
if she were to be sent back to Dubai. She surely knows, as Latifa knew, that asylum
provides her the only safe route out of the royal palace."
Stirling added: "If she was abused, she could not go to the police; if she wanted a divorce,
she could not go to the courts."
The Emirati embassy in London told Business Insider: "This is a private family matter
and not one which the UAE government would involve itself in or comment on."