Mary Robinson says she was ‘misled’ in Princess Latifa case

Former Irish president Mary Robinson has said she was misled regarding the welfare of Princess Latifa of Dubai when she intervened in the case of her alleged detention.

In February 2018, Princess Latifa Al Maktoum reportedly tried to flee Dubai, but days into her escape she was forcibly removed by armed men from a yacht off the coast of India, and returned to Dubai.

In an interview with BBC Panorama, to be broadcast on Tuesday evening, Mary Robinson said she had been misled at a lunch with the family in 2018 into believing Princess Latifa had bipolar disorder and was traumatised by her escape attempt.

“I was misled, initially by my good friend princess Haya, because she was misled,” Ms Robinson said.

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BBC Panorama has obtained secret recordings from Princess Latifa who says she is being held hostage in Dubai by her father, the ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Videos show Latifa crouched against the wall in a bathroom.

Using a mobile phone, she recorded a message saying: “I’m a hostage, I’m not free. I am prisoned in this jail. My life is not in my hands.”

A former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Robinson attended a family lunch with the princess and her family in December 2018 amid increasing international concern for her welfare. Friends and supporters of the princess had claimed she was forcibly returned to Dubai after fleeing the country earlier in 2018.

Ms Robinson was criticised for her accounts of that meeting. She had described the princess as a “troubled” and “vulnerable” young woman who regretted planning an escape and was now in the care of her family. Ms Robinson said she was a “very likeable young woman” but clearly needed the medical care she was receiving.

The princess has told the BBC programme she was tricked into participating in pictures with her stepmother Princess Haya bint Hussein and Ms Robinson in 2018. Princess Latifa said Princess Haya visited her and told her that she would be allowed out as a “test” to see if she could behave. She sat next to Ms Robinson, but she said she did not know who she was.

After the meeting she was returned to her quarters. She later told Panorama she “knew something was going on”.

Ms Robinson told Panorama that Princess Haya said during their lunch that Latifa had quite a serious bipolar problem. Ms Robinson said she had been told “in a way that was very convincing” that the family did not want Latifa to go through any further trauma.

“I didn’t know how to address somebody who was bipolar about their trauma. And I didn’t really actually want to talk to her and increase the trauma over a nice lunch,” Ms Robinson added.

In another clip, Ms Robinson said she was “horribly tricked” when photographs of her and Princess Latifa at the lunch were made public by the United Arab Emirates. She told the BBC the pictures taken were to be used privately as a proof the princess was alive.

“I was particularly tricked when the photographs went public. Horribly tricked. I mean, that was a total surprise. I was absolutely stunned,” she said.

BBC Panorama has independently verified the details of Princess Latifa’s location where, according to the programme, she is being guarded by around 30 police. In videos, the woman says she has been in solitary confinement for more than a year.

“No access to medical help, no trial, no charge, nothing… Every day I am worried about my safety and the police threaten me that I will never see the sun again. I am not safe here,” she says.

The Government of Dubai and the UAE has previously said that Latifa is safe in the loving care of her family.

Speaking to reporters in Dublin in July 2019, Ms Robinson said she had never been friends with the leadership of the UAE except for Princess Haya “who is still my friend”.

Princess Haya, Sheikh Mohammed’s sixth and youngest wife, fled to London in April 2019 with their two young children. His attempt to return the children to Dubai triggered a legal action in the family courts.

BBC Panorama: The Missing Princess is broadcast on BBC One, tonight at 8.30pm.