THE REBEL PRINCESS

Sheikha Mara has divided Dubai society by openly divorcing her husband on social media

- PECULIA MUSHWANA

THE wedding had all the components of a fairytale: a beautiful bride in a diamond-encrusted gown, a handsome groom, a venue adorned with hundreds of snowy white roses and a towering seven-tier cake sliced into with a ceremonial sword.

The who's who of Dubai witnessed the joining together of Sheikha Mahra bint Mohammed bin Rashid AI Maktoum and Sheikh Mana bin Mohammed bin Rashid bin Mana AI Maktoum, who's also of noble descent, and everyone believed it would be a marriage made in royal heaven.

But barely a year later it has all fallen apart and all that's left of the seemingly picture-perfect union is bitterness and scandal.

Instead of an official palace statement announcing the demise of the relationship, the princess declared it was over in a rather modern way: on Instagram. And the message she posted was dripping with suggestion that her husband had strayed far from the marital bed.

“Dear husband, as you are preoccupied with other companions, I hereby declare our divorce. I divorce you, I divorce you, and I Divorce you. Take care. Your ex-wife.”

News of the split came like a bolt from the blue, especially as Mahra had only just welcomed their first child, a daughter, in May. And the triple talaq, a spoken proclamation of divorce in Islamic law, isn’t usually used by women.

Mahra (30) – the daughter of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai – is the latest princess from the emirate to publicly challenge life in the kingdom.

Her sisters, Princess Latifa and Princess Shamsa, previously attempted to flee the Middle East in search of freedom in the West but were captured and forcibly returned to Dubai.

Mahra’s social media post quickly went viral and many people praised her bravery others, however, questioned the legitimacy of the divorce.