Kidnapped daughter of Dubai’s ruler is pictured ‘on holiday’ in Spain: Friend insists the princess ‘is great’ despite concern from UN
- Princess Latifa al Maktoum appeared in an Instagram post with Sioned Taylor
- The caption said they were having a ‘great European holiday’ and are ‘exploring’
- It is one of the few times the Sheikha has been seen since she was ‘freed’
- Latifa in videos last year alleged she was being held hostage by her family
The kidnapped daughter of the ruler of Dubai has appeared in another social media post claiming she is in Spain on a European holiday.
Princess Latifa al Maktoum, who has been the subject of concern from the UN, appeared in a photo alongside former Royal Navy member Sioned Taylor on Instagram on Monday.
The 35-year-old Sheikha had said she was being held hostage by her father after she tried to flee the country for the United States in 2018.
The kidnapped daughter of the ruler of Dubai has appeared in another social media post claiming she is in Spain on a European holiday
The latest post shows the pair posing for a photo at Adolfo Suarez Madrid–Barajas Airport with a suitcase.
Ms Taylor’s caption, punctuated by a smiley face emoji, read: ‘Great European holiday with Latifa. We’re having fun exploring!’
Comments by Taylor acknowledged the location of the image, which match other images of the airport.
Asked about Sheikha Latifa, Ms Taylor wrote in another comment ‘she is great’ with a thumbs-up emoji.
Ms Taylor previously posted images of Sheikha Latifa in May at two local Dubai malls.
Former Royal Navy member Sioned Taylor shared a snap last month of her with the princess at a Dubai mall
The two women know each other from their love of skydiving with Taylor now working as maths teacher at a school in Dubai.
It is likely Ms Taylor would have been given permission by the ruler of Dubai to post the photograph – a rare occasion Latifa has been seen in public since December 2018 when she was part of a staged photo opportunity with former Irish President Mary Robinson.
Another snap was posted last month by Fiona Day, a self-described psychic medium who posts frequently about animals and veganism, topics that Princess Latifa is also understood to be passionate about.
The photos’ captions belie the fact UN experts and human rights activists had called on Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to provide information on his daughter.
Last month, an image was posted showing Latifa, 34 with two friends at the Emirates Mall in Dubai. She was seen (centre) with women identified as Lynda Bouchikhi (right) and Sioned Taylor (left)
Acomplaint was filed in April after UN experts demanded the UAE’s ruler provide information about his daughter and release her, two months after the BBC aired a video it said was of Princess Latifa (pictured) describing herself as a hostage in a villa
Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, on Derby day in 2017 with his estranged wife Princess Haya
Timeline: Princess Latifa’s escape and capture
December 1985: Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is born.
August 2000: Her father, the ruler of Dubai, orders Latifa’s sister Shamsa abducted from the UK.
Latifa says she has not been allowed to leave Dubai since this date.
June 2002: The teenage Latifa makes her first escape attempt, but is captured on the UAE’s border with Oman and returned to Dubai on her father’s orders. She says she was subsequently held in prison until 2005.
2010: Latifa meets Tiina Jauhiainen, a Finnish martial arts instructor. They become close friends, and the princess later confides in her about her earlier escape attempt and what had happened to Shamsa.
2017: The pair begin plotting their escape with clandestine discussions at the glitzy Dubai Mall. Tiina travels to the Philippines to meet a French former spy and naval officer, Herve Jaubert, who had written a book called Escape from Dubai.
February 24, 2018: Latifa and Tiina drive for six hours to reach Oman, where they boarded a dinghy to reach international waters before using jet skis to board the US-flagged boat Nostromo, captained by Jaubert.
March 4, 2018: The Nostromo is intercepted by commando units, allegedly including Indian special forces, who kidnap Latifa and take her back to the UAE.
December 2019: A UK judge finds that the allegations of abduction are proved to be true. He also rules that the sheikh subjected his estranged wife Princess Haya to a campaign of fear and intimidation.
March 2020: The judge’s rulings are made public after the Supreme Court denies the sheikh’s final appeal.
February 2021: New videos come to light in which Latifa, speaking from a ‘villa jail’, describes how her father’s henchmen foiled her escape attempt and says she is being held ‘hostage’.
A close friend in Dubai told MailOnline last month: ‘Princess Latifa is out of what she called the “villa prison”. She is no longer under armed guard and has been allowed to see friends. She is able to make contact with friends and have something of a normal life.
‘We are very hopeful that things are moving the right direction and she will be able to decide what she wants to do. The fact that she is no longer being held in a villa against her will is a major step forward.’
Earlier this year, Latifa described her hostage ordeal in a series of haunting videos obtained by MailOnline.
They were secretly made after being kidnapped by her father in 2018 as she tried to flee the country to start a new life in the United States.
In one video she said she was a ‘hostage’ and described where she was staying as a ‘villa prison’ with her every move monitored by security forces working for her father.
She said: ‘This villa has been converted into a jail. All the windows are barred shut.
‘There’s five policemen outside and two policewomen inside. I can’t even go out to get fresh air. So basically, I’m a hostage.’
Latifa had escaped Dubai in February 2018 after recording a disturbing video in which she revealed her troubled relationship with her father.
She was captured on a yacht off the coast of India and forcibly returned to Dubai where she was ‘imprisoned’ and guarded round the clock
After the release of the February 2021 videos, the United Nations demanded to see proof of life and called for Latifa to be freed.
The Free Latifa campaign has demanded sanctions be placed on the Dubai ruler over his failure to release his daughter and comply with the UN demands.
Latifa is one of the Sheikh’s 30 children and has previously claimed she was tortured an imprisoned after a failed attempt to flee Dubai in 2002.
The Dubai ruler, one of the world’s richest men and largest property owners in the UK, had claimed his daughter was suffering from a mental illness and was being looked after by his family.
With the UN demand for proof of life and threat of sanctions Latifa’s supporters believe he has finally agreed to allow his daughter more freedom.
David Haigh, co-founder of the Free Latifa campaign, said they are monitoring events very closely.
He said last month: ‘This is all very good news and there are certain matters going on behind the scenes that we are hopeful will result in further positive news.’
The Queen with Sheikh Mohammed on Derby day in 2011. The Sheikh has a passion for horses.
A diagram showing Latifa’s daring escape plan from the seas around the United Arab Emirates in 2018
Stage-managed photos taken in 2018 showed Latifa posing with the former Irish president and then-UN high commissioner for human rights Mary Robinson
The princess said she was drugged and tortured on the orders of her father. She said was not allowed to drive, had no passport and was followed by a team of guards.
Latifa also claimed her older sister Shamsa is being kept against her will in Dubai after she tried to escape the kingdom and was abducted from the UK in 2000.
Latifa, who is one of the Sheikh’s 30 children by his six wives, fled Dubai by jet ski to rendezvous with a yacht waiting to sail to India.
After eight days at sea, the yacht she was travelling on was boarded by Indian commandos off the coast of Goa and she was returned to the custody of her father in Dubai.
Latifa hoped to travel to India and then the United States to seek asylum.
The sheikh says Latifa was tricked into escaping by criminals who wanted money and that returning her to Dubai was a rescue mission.
He has been the subject of allegations from a number of members of his family.As well as Latifa and one of her sisters, two former wives claim he abused them. The sheikh denies the claims.
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