Last November, Princess Latifa met with the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Paris. The daughter of the ruler of Dubai, who had claimed last year to be held hostage, assured that she “was fine” during this meeting, the date of which was announced on Monday by the UN.
In addition, in a statement obtained by AFP on Monday, the princess claims “to have had a long, positive and private meeting in Paris” with Michelle Bachelet “to assert her right to a private life, following persistent media speculation about his subject “. She “wants to say clearly that she lives as she wishes, that she travels as she wishes, that she is doing perfectly well and that she would like the media to allow her to live in peace”.
A meeting at the request of the princess
On Friday, the UN reported on this meeting with Michelle Bachelet, without specifying the date, and indicated in a tweet that the princess “let the High Commissioner know that she was well and (…) expressed the wish that we respect his private life”.
“The meeting took place at the end of November in Paris, while the High Commissioner was on her way to Burkina Faso and Niger for official visits,” a spokeswoman for the High Commission, Elizabeth Throssel. This meeting took place “at the request” of the princess who had said, in videos broadcast in mid-February 2021 by British media, that she was being held “hostage” and feared for her life.
The proof by the image
“His situation had raised serious concerns in early 2021, and we had publicly requested proof of life. This face-to-face meeting, which was held privately in a hotel in Paris, satisfies our request,” said Elizabeth Throssell.
“Mr. Niri Shan of the law firm Taylor Wessing attended the first part of the meeting. Sheikha Latifa told the High Commissioner that he was her legal adviser,” she explained, indicating that most of the meeting took place in private. The photo accompanying Friday’s tweet shows the two women side by side in front of a Paris metro entrance at the Chaussée d’Antin station in the French capital’s 9th arrondissement. They each sketch a slight smile. This tweet was published “with the agreement” of the princess, said Elizabeth Throssell.
“Villa transformed into a prison”
The princess, daughter of Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, ruler of the Emirate of Dubai and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, had unsuccessfully tried to escape by boat from this Gulf city-state in 2018, before be forced back there.
Her relatives then transmitted videos in which she said she was locked up in a “villa transformed into a prison” with condemned windows and guarded by the police. The services of Michelle Bachelet, but also NGOs including Amnesty International or the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs had requested proof of life. The Royal Court then assured that the princess was safe and that she had never been arrested or detained.