Dubai ruler plans new luxury garden room overlooking loch at his Highland estate
Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum plans new luxury garden room overlooking loch at his Highland estate as he faces British record £554m divorce settlement
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum wanted to expand his Inverinate Estate by erecting summer houseThe building will overlook Loch Duich and being proposed to increase the sheikh’s ‘enjoyment’ of his propertyThe Highland retreat already boasts helipads and a 14-bed holiday home, a 16-bed hunting lodge with a pool
<!–
<!–
<!–<!–
<!–
(function (src, d, tag){
var s = d.createElement(tag), prev = d.getElementsByTagName(tag)[0];
s.src = src;
prev.parentNode.insertBefore(s, prev);
}(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/1.17.0/async_bundle–.js”, document, “script”));
<!–
DM.loadCSS(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/gunther-2159/video_bundle–.css”);
<!–
The billionaire ruler of Dubai has lodged plans to build a luxury ‘garden room’ overlooking a loch at his home in the Scottish Highlands.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum wanted to expand his Inverinate Estate by erecting the glass-fronted summer house.
The sprawling building will overlook Loch Duich and is being proposed to increase the sheikh’s ‘enjoyment’ of his property.
The 72-year-old has an estimated £14billion fortune and bought the 63,000-acre estate in Wester Ross more than 20 years ago.
The Highland retreat already boasts helipads and a 14-bedroom holiday home, next door to a 16-bedroom luxury hunting lodge with pool and gym.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum wanted to expand his Inverinate Estate by erecting the glass-fronted summer house
Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein are pictured in the stands at Epsom Downs in 2011
The sprawling building will overlook Loch Duich and is being proposed to increase the sheikh’s ‘enjoyment’ of his property
South Korean President Moon Jae-in (left) and United Arab Emirates Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (right) are pictured after holding talks at the World Exposition in Dubai on January 16
A planning application was submitted to Highland Council for the 62 sq m garden room and an accompanying footpath earlier this month.
A design statement submitted by the sheikh’s representatives states: ‘The applicant wishes to create the proposed garden room for the enjoyment of the estate.
‘The garden room will provide an enhanced level of amenity for the owners and guests when in residence at Inverinate.
‘The proposed location of the garden room lies on shore of the Inverinate estate on an existing peninsula which juts out into the loch.
‘The site is surrounded by a coastal wall and sits with the backdrop of mature trees and existing contemporary lodge house.
‘The proposed garden room has been located in an existing clearing formed by the coastal wall. The garden room will be accessed via a path which will wind itself through the landscape.
‘The proposed garden room has a low profile which seeks to sit comfortably within the landscape and backdrop of the mature trees and contemporary lodge.’
Princess Haya had asked the court for a total of £1.4billion to provide for her children and their security costs and to compensate her for racehorses, cars and other valuables she said were owed to her
Princess Haya bint Hussein will receive a lump sum payment of £251million as part of a ‘clean break’ from one of the world’s richest men, Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, the High Court announced
She did not ask the court for a share of her ex-husband’s wealth but sought maintenance payments for their children and for compensation of more than £19million for racehorses
The local authority is due to make a decision on the planning application in March. In 2020, the sheikh won a battle to build a six-bed lodge at the estate after the Scottish Government overruled a council vote to block it.
Locals claimed it would spoil the natural beauty of the area at Loch Duich and be too close to a neighbouring bungalow.
Government planning officials said they saw no reason not to allow the building as long as the sheikh pays for affordable housing in the area.
Last month a judge in London ordered the sheikh to pay his former wife £554million in Britain’s biggest divorce settlement.
He was told to pay Princess Haya bint al-Hussein an initial lump sum of £251.5million within three months for her and their two children’s security.
The award came after the princess, the half-sister of King Abdullah II of Jordan, fled the UAE in 2019 with their children claiming she was ‘terrified’ of her husband.
From racehorses to diamonds, the lavish spending and gifts kept lawyers in the case arguing for weeks.
Princess Haya had asked the court for the £1.4billion to provide for her children, Jalila, 14, and Zayed, nine, and their security costs, and to compensate her for racehorses, cars and other valuables she said were owed to her.
The judgement revealed last year how Princess Haya paid £7million to ‘blackmailers’ on her security staff to keep secret her affair with her British bodyguard, Russell Flowers, (circled left). Haya (middle) is seen next to Sheikh Mohammed on the right. The image was taken at Ascot
Pictured: Princess Haya talking to Her Majesty the Queen at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in Berkshire back in 2009
Sheikh Mohammed – a close friend of the Queen over their mutual love of horse racing – was also found to have had his agents ‘hack’ the phones of his ex-wife and her lawyers, including Baroness Fiona Shackleton. They are pictured together at the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 2014
She told the judge her £20million jewellery collection in Dubai would have filled his courtroom.
The former Olympic showjumper claimed up to 400 racehorses from her ex-husband’s Godolphin stables had run in her name, including the 2008 Epsom Derby winner New Approach, which she said had been a gift from him to her after the birth of their first child.
Haya said he had given her £15million in prize money after the 2018 Dubai World Cup as a reward for help in hosting his guests, adding: ‘It was an incredibly generous thing for Sheikh Mohammed to do.’
She said she was ‘spoiled with wonderful gifts’ during her 15-year marriage to one of the world’s richest men.
But her life of opulence turned to terror when he discovered her affair with her bodyguard and the princess said she had left most of her possessions behind when she fled to Britain.
She told the court she had sold horses, jewellery, cars and gold to pay bills and had considered selling paintings, but had not wanted her children to see gaps on the walls and realise what had happened.
She did not ask the court for a share of her ex-husband’s wealth but sought maintenance payments for their children and for compensation of more than £19million for racehorses.
She also wanted £52million for clothing and jewellery as compensation for items she had left behind.
Mr Justice Moor declared in a 73-page judgement there was a ‘clear and ever-present risk’ to the princess and her two young children and that Sheikh Mohammed was the ‘main threat to her’.
The £554m figure awarded by Mr Justice Moor at the Family Division of the High Court dwarfs the previous highest settlement of £450m made in 2016 to the ex-wife of Russian oligarch Farkhad Akhmedov.
Since fleeing to London, Princess Haya and her children have been living in a £100m mansion in Kensington (pictured) and country home near Egham in Surrey
The princess would spend time with Mr Flowers at the family’s stunning 3,000-acre Suffolk home Dalham Hall (above)
