London:
Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum attempted to invest in one of the most high priced 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 had been weeks away from exchanging contracts on the 30 million pound ($41 million) Parkwood estate when the sheikh’s group 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 portion 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 considering the fact that she fled to England in 2019, mentioned she justifiably regarded the home 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 mentioned in a ruling published on Wednesday.
Haya mentioned she feared the plans would enable the sheikh – who the judge has also ruled hacked her phone and these of her lawyers – to spy on her or possibly attempt 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 mentioned in a written statement to the court.
Haya’s lawyers mentioned they initial became conscious of the sheikh’s plans in late 2019, and unsuccessfully sought confirmation from his legal group that he would not to invest in any properties close to her Castlewood home in Berkshire, close to Windsor Great Park exactly where Queen Elizabeth’s son Prince Andrew’s home is positioned.
In late 2020, Haya received data that a trust connected to Mohammed was attempting to invest in the 72-acre Parkwood estate instantly abutting Castlewood, which had been left to her by her father, the late King Hussein of Jordan.
After the sheikh’s lawyers failed to reply to requests from Haya’s legal group about the intended obtain, in November 2020 they responded to a direct request from the High Court to confirm the trust was in the procedure of obtaining Parkwood and it could effectively take spot in the next handful of weeks.
The identical month, these acting for the sheikh confirmed they would not go ahead with the obtain of the estate, which McFarlane mentioned “comprises, according to press reports, the most expensive development land currently on the market”.
“Quite simply, if it were not for the mother’s persistence and my Lord’s assistance in demanding an answer, the purchase of a property sitting right on top of the mother would have gone ahead,” Haya’s lawyer Charles Geekie mentioned. “It is an absolute game changer when the threat is on your doorstep.”
Mohammed’s lawyer told the court that the trust behind the home dealings routinely sought industrial possibilities in the region.
The following month, the judge agreed to extend a “non-molestation order” against Mohammed.
This integrated a one hundred-metre exclusion zone about Castlewood for the father or these acting for him, a no-fly zone to cease aircraft or drones flying in between the ground and 1,000ft above her estate, and a wider region in which he could not invest in or rent any home.
The sheikh’s lawyers had argued that Haya’s initial request for a 14.8 km (9 mile) exclusion zone would have prevented him from becoming in a position to access Windsor and Ascot racecourses and Windsor Castle, Queen Elizabeth’s residence to the west of London, and McFarlane mentioned he agreed to “radically” lessen its size.
()