THE SPY, THE KING AND THE Missing Princess
SHIELDED from the swirl and dazzle of Dubai, the Zabeel Palace, home of the citystate’s billionaire ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, presents a reassuring image of serenity. Peacocks wander over velvety lawns, tethered lions snooze beside reflecting pools, and the gilded domes and arches evoke the Tales Of The Arabian Nights. Yet from behind the palace walls comes a real-life story of a more disturbing kind.
The sheikh’s 33-year-old daughter, Princess Latifa, has not been seen in public since March 2018 when she was seized in the Indian Ocean while attempting to ‘escape’ from her life in Dubai aboard the yacht Nostromo.
Before fleeing, Latifa wrote to a friend: “All my life I have been mistreated and oppressed. Women are treated as sub-humans here. My father can’t continue to do what he has been doing to us all.” From the first sketchy details of her disappearance has emerged an astonishing saga of subterfuge, intrigue and high-seas daring, featuring a cast of characters, pitting high profile campaigners for her freedom against the powerful Maktoum dynasty’s determination to protect its interests.
