Princess Haya bint Hussein

Princess Haya bint Al Hussein
Princess Haya in 2017
Born (1974-05-03) 3 May 1974 (age 50)
Amman, Jordan
Spouse
(m. 2004; div. 2019)
Issue
  • Sheikha Jalila
  • Sheikh Zayed
Names
Haya bint Hussein bin Talal bin Abdullah
HouseHashemite (by birth)
Al Maktoum (by marriage)
FatherHussein of Jordan
MotherAlia Toukan

Princess Haya bint Al Hussein (Arabic: الأميرة هيا بنت الحسين; born 3 May 1974) is the daughter of King Hussein of Jordan and his third wife, the Palestinian Queen Alia. She is the half-sister of King Abdullah II.

Haya is a graduate of the University of Oxford in England and an accomplished equestrian. She represented Jordan at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and is the two-term President of the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI).

In 2004, Haya became the second official wife of the ruler of the Emirate of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. They had two children, Sheikha Jalila and Sheikh Zayed. In 2019, Haya and Mohammed divorced, and she left Dubai with her children to reside in the United Kingdom. Legal proceedings between Haya and Mohammed before the High Court in London over custody of their children attracted considerable media attention. On 5 March 2020, a British court ruled that on the balance of probabilities, Sheikh Mohammed, the absolute ruler of Dubai and the prime minister of the UAE, had abducted two of his daughters, Shamsa and Latifa, and had threatened Haya.[1]

In March 2022, the court awarded sole custody of the couple's two children to Haya.[2]

  1. ^ "Dubai's Sheikh Mohammed abducted daughters and threatened wife – UK court". BBC News. 5 March 2020. Archived from the original on 5 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  2. ^ "UK court grants Dubai ruler's ex-wife custody of children". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 18 September 2024.