Prince Hamdan in 2008 was named the successor of his father, Sheikh Mohammed, as ruler of Dubai. It is not surprising that for more than 10 years he has not left the ratings of the most eligible bachelors on the planet. Hamdan is handsome, rich, smart, educated. The prince is incredibly popular on the Internet, so the news of his imminent wedding, which spread across social networks in June 2014, upset millions of fans of the royal heir. True, a little later it turned out that the message was fiction. Moreover, in 2010, a series of Wikileaks revelations contained completely different information about Hamdan's real life, hidden from prying eyes.
Who is Prince Hamdan
The state of the United Arab Emirates is a union of seven kingdoms (emirates), each of which has its own ruler or monarch. Moreover, the king of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, where the capital of the federation is located, is the country's president. And the head of Dubai, the second largest autonomous region by area, is the chairman of the government. In each emirate, the form of government remains an absolute monarchy.
Prince Hamdan and Sheikh Mohammed
The Al Maktoum dynasty has ruled in Dubai since 1833, and power is inherited by sons or male brothers. In 2006, Sheikh Mohammed became the Emir of Dubai, whose son is Prince Hamdan. In total, the current ruler of the kingdom has more than 20 children and 7 wives. His firstborn son was Rashid, who was born in 1981, and Hamdan was born second, in November 1982. Both children were presented to Sheikh Mohammed by his first wife, Hind Bint Maktum.
According to the line of succession, the royal throne was intended for the eldest - Rashid. However, he formally renounced his title, and on February 1, 2008, Prince Hamdan took the official oath of office in his place as the sheikh's successor. Incidentally, the reasons for the abdication were mentioned in secret documents published by the Wikileaks website. Allegedly, Rashid committed a grave crime - he killed one of the employees in his father's palace, which aroused his anger and pushed him to the decision to change the order of inheritance. In 2015, the firstborn of the ruler of Dubai died. According to some sources, the cause of death was cardiac arrest, according to others - he was killed as a result of shelling in Yemen.
Behind the shoulders of the future ruler is a brilliant education. After studying at the Dubai government school, Hamdan went to the UK. Members of Arab royal families are traditionally sent to the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst. Then Hamdan studied at the London School of Economics, which is one of the five best universities in the world.
The Crown Prince is a favorite of the press in his homeland, and enthusiastic fans have given him the nickname Aladdin. He maintains a popular Instagram account, which has 7.5 million subscribers. On its pages, Hamdan demonstrates his luxurious life - yachts, expensive cars, thoroughbred horses. He is interested in diving, parachuting, falconry, snowboarding. The prince has achieved considerable success in equestrian sports. For example, he won the gold medal at the 2014 World Equestrian Games, which were held in France, and many other tournaments.
He is not alien to the love of beauty. Hamdan composes poems dedicated to his home country and family. In this case, he even has a creative pseudonym - Fuzza. Among the exotic hobbies of the Dubai heir is keeping a menagerie with dangerous predators. Lions, tigers, alligators live in it. Also, the people love their future ruler for their generosity and many good deeds. He helps sick children, disabled people, medical institutions. By the way, the personal fortune of Hamdan in 2011 was estimated by Forbes at $ 18 billion.
Fake engagement
The heir's personal life is a topic of endless speculation in the press. It was mentioned that the prince was engaged from an early age to a distant relative, but this contractual marriage was canceled for unknown reasons. In addition, he allegedly was in a romantic relationship with an unknown girl, also indirectly belonging to the royal dynasty. Young people met for five years.
In June 2014, the news of Hamdan's engagement to a simple girl Kalila Said, who fled to Dubai from Palestine and grew up in a slum near the Arab metropolis, quickly spread on Facebook. A beautiful love story said that the prince met his chosen one while working on another charity project. He sought her attention for several months, unsuccessfully asking for dates. When Kalila agreed to meet, Hamdan did his best to win her heart. Of course, he did it. True, the father did not approve of the choice of his son, but he had to accept, seeing the sincerity and perseverance of the heir.
The story in the spirit of the best love melodramas shocked people so much that most of them did not even think about its plausibility. Although there were many inconsistencies. For example, there are no slums near Dubai, which are mentioned in the message. The photo, attached as evidence, looked very strange: the girl has loose hair and inappropriate clothes to match the royal status of the groom. Later, the Iranian singer Rahma Riad was completely identified in the stranger. Also, the prince himself, who actively uses social networks, did not tell his audience anything.
Nevertheless, few have heard the refutation of this story, so there are still many who want to know how the engagement of Hamdan and Kalila ended.
Prince's personal life according to Wikileaks
In 2010, Wikileaks revealed many secrets of royal families around the world. This information was transmitted by American diplomats to the US State Department. The Dubai prince Hamdan was also mentioned in them. In particular, the documents spoke about the heir's drug addiction and his bisexual addictions.
He asks his relatives, friends and lovers to call himself Fazza. Sheikh Mohammed condescendingly looks at the heir's weaknesses, although Dubai laws are extremely harsh in terms of drug use or homosexuality. By the way, rumors about Hamdan are far from the only mention of addictions in the royal family. For example, former servants from the royal palace previously spoke of the deceased Sheikh Rashid's drug addiction when an unprecedented trial tried to accuse members of the ruling dynasty of discrimination in the workplace.
It should be noted that Wikileaks' scandalous information about Hamdan disappeared from the site very quickly. And this case was a rare exception for data deletion. Such drastic measures were most likely taken by Sheikh Mohammed, wanting to protect the reputation of the future successor. Although, in the light of the revealed facts, many began to consider Prince Hamdan as a future reformer in the field of civil liberties. Who knows, maybe his liberal views will still benefit Dubai society.
