“Dear Husband, as you are occupied with other companions, I hereby declare our divorce. I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you. Take care. Your ex-wife.”
While high-profile divorces are usually orchestrated by ultra-polished, PR-managed statements, that doesn’t seem to have been the case for the daughter of Dubai’s leader. This was the scathing message that Sheikha Mahra bint Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum – whose father is Sheikh Mohammed – posted to her 700,000 Instagram followers on Tuesday.
It was just over a year ago that Sheikha Mahra married her husband Sheikh Mana bin Mohammed bin Rashid bin Mana al-Maktoum – also from the ruling family – in a lavish ceremony in Dubai. The couple also welcomed their first child, a daughter, just two months ago.
But it seems that relations between the pair have soured quickly, with Mahra’s bombshell Instagram post sending shockwaves across the world. There has been speculation that the account was hacked as such public statements of personal lives are strictly taboo for the royal family. However, since uploading the post – which has amassed more than 350,000 likes and nearly 37,000 comments – neither have publicly commented on the matter, but both appear to have removed all photos of each other from their respective Instagram pages.
In repeating the phrase “I divorce you” three times, the princess appeared to be referencing the controversial practice of triple talaq. It has been banned in many countries, but usually allows husbands to quickly divorce their wives by saying "I divorce you" three times without needing to offer a reason or obtain his wife’s agreement.
It is a rare insight into the usually painstakingly polished private lives of royals in Dubai, part of 75-year-old Sheikh Mohammed’s transformation of Dubai into the UAE’s top tourism destination, and a hub for finance.
Little is known about the princess’ husband, Sheikh Mana, but his public Instagram account features two posts of him alongside self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate, who last year was arrested on charges of human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women (he denies the claims).
Mahra isn’t the first daughter of Dubai’s leader — who has 26 children with seven wives — to rebel against life in the kingdom. Two of his other daughters, Sheikha Latifa and Sheikha Shamsa — tried to escape, but were caught and jailed in Dubai.
So who are the royal couple, and what’s going on in the Dubai royal family?
A London university graduate and Dubai socialite – who is Sheikha Mahra?
Sheikha Mahra is one of the 26 children of Sheikh Mohammed, the ruler of Dubai. She is the daughter of a Greek mother, Zoe Grigorakos – the only child the couple share together.
Mahra graduated from a university in London in 2023 with a degree in International Relations, and is a prominent figure in the Dubai social scene. A regular guest at exhibitions, fashion shows, and award ceremonies, she is also active in philanthropy contributing towards causes such as environmental sustainability and female empowerment.
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In May 2023, Sheikha Mahra and Sheikh Mana tied the knot in a lavish and highly-anticipated wedding reception held at the Zabeel Hall of the Dubai World Trade Centre, before honeymooning on the luxury Greek island of Mykonos.
In October last year, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child, with an ultrasound photo of their growing baby on Instagram. Mahra captioned the sweet picture, “Just the three of us.”
The royal also appeared on the front cover of Harper’s Bazaar Arabia seven months ago, despite the fact that being photographed in public is still taboo for women in upper class and conservative Emirati society, particularly without their hair covered. It is believed that the fact that her mother may not be Emirati could be a contributing factor to her eschewing certain traditions. “She is definitely not local,” Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, an Emirati political commentator told the Telegraph, adding that the young royal “looks different… very liberal”.
Abdulla also said that Mahra’s latest Instagram post, announcing the pair’s divorce “violates lots of royal family code of conduct, let alone social norms” in what is a very private society.
The first public sign that there was disquiet in the marriage between Sheikha Mahra and her husband Sheikh Mana came in early June, when Mahra posted a picture of herself in June holding her baby with the caption “Just the two of us.”
Who is Sheikh Mana, and why is he posting with Andrew Tate?
Sheikh Mana is an entrepreneur, with business interests in tech and real estate. His Instagram includes pictures with several famous figures, including footballer Ronaldinho, and is friends with other sports personalities including Novak Djokovic.
He has also shared two Instagram posts posing alongside notorious self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate. In October 2022, Sheikh Mana posted a carousel of seven Instagram pictures alongside Tate in Dubai, with the caption “#andrewtate #topg”, followed by a video of the pair meeting and having dinner at a brasserie.
Tate and his brother were charged in June 2023 with rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, which they both deny. He has been variously criticised for saying that that women "belong in the home", "can't drive", and are "given to the man and belong to the man", as "a man's property", amongst other misogynistic and offensive comments.
A runaway daughter and an escaped wife: Dubai’s royal chaos
Sheikha Mahra’s dramatic Instagram post is far from the first time the Dubai royal family has been in the headlines in recent years.
Mahra’s father, Sheikh Mohammed, has 26 children by at least seven wives, all of whom he has divorced except Sheikha Hind bint Maktoum Al Maktoum, his first wife.
In 2018, Sheikha Latifa, Mahra’s sister and a fellow princess of the emirate, fled Dubai in 2018, only to be forcibly returned and interrogated. In the dramatic debacle, she used an inflatable boat to reach a yacht anchored in international waters rented by a French accomplice. While off the coast of India, the vessel was reportedly boarded by Indian commandos and she was forcibly returned to Dubai.
For months, Latifa’s fate was unknown, until she managed to smuggle out videos in which she said she had been kept in solitary confinement.
In one video, she said: “All the windows are barred shut … There’s five policemen outside and two policewomen inside the house. And I can’t even go outside to get any fresh air. I’m doing this video from a bathroom because this is the only room with a door I can lock. I’m a hostage. I am not free. I’m enslaved in this jail.”
In a legal battle in 2020, a London high court judge, accepted as proven a series of allegations made by Princess Haya bint Hussein, one of the sheikh’s former wives, including that the sheikh ordered Latifa’s abduction, although his lawyers rejected the allegations. After fleeing from her husband, Princess Haya escaped from Dubai to Germany, and then to London in 2019, saying she feared for her life. She finalised a divorce from him that year, with a judge finding that “there will remain a clear and ever-present risk to [Princess Haya] for the remainder of her life,” as reported by the BBC.
Last year, Latifa described her father as a “major criminal” and deemed him responsible for imprisoning disobedient women before she fled Dubai. The ordeal is being developed into a four-part drama series this year, with a script by the award-winning British writer, Lindsay Shapero.
In 2021, Sheikh Mohamed's personal wealth was estimated at $14 billion. He ranks among the largest landowners in the UK, with a portfolio exceeding 100,000 acres. This includes mansions and stables in Newmarket, an estate in the Scottish Highlands, and luxury properties in London and Surrey.
