Sheikha Latifa, the daughter of Dubai’s ruler who made headlines in 2018 after trying to flee the kingdom, was purportedly photographed being on a ‘European holiday’ in Spain. She had claimed that she was kept captive in the kingdom.
In a recent
Instagram post, Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum can be seen at the Adolfo
Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport in Madrid. The photograph, which has been widely circulated since, was posted by a woman identified in the British press as
former Royal Navy member Sioned Taylor, according to The Guardian.
“Great
European holiday with Latifa. We’re having fun exploring!” she captioned the post,
confirming their location in the comments section. Upon being asked about
Latifa, she replied, “she is great,” along with the thumbs up emoji.
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Earlier, in
May, Taylor had also posted images with Latifa at two malls in Dubai.
Latifa has
been the subject of concern from the United Nations and human rights activists,
who have called on Dubai ruler sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to provide
information on her.
The 35-year-old princess has
accused her father of abuse, who has dismissed all claims of
mistreating her and an elder daughter Shamsa. A British family court had found
that Shamsa was kidnapped by the sheikh’s staff from Cambridge in the year 2000.
She hasn’t been heard from since.
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Latifa has enjoyed
a higher degree of freedom and has been travelling more, the legal counsel
for the group which supported her freedom told Reuters on Monday. “We are
pleased to see Latifa seemingly having a passport, travelling and enjoying an
increasing degree of freedom; these are very positive steps forward,” David
Haigh, co-founder of Free Latifa campaign said.
“I can also
confirm that several of the campaign team have been contacted directly by
Latifa,” he added.
