Third photo of Princess Latifa appears in three days

A new photo appearing to show Princess Latifa has appeared online, after it emerged that the daughter of the ruler of Dubai was freed and no longer under armed guard. 

Princess Latifa al Maktoum claimed she was being held hostage by her father after she tried to flee the country for the United States. 

She is now staying with friends having been released after almost three years cut off from the outside world as punishment for trying to leave the country. 

The photo of her is the third one to have been posted online over the past three days. 

The latest image was posted by Fiona Day, who is a self-described psychic medium who posts frequently about animals and veganism, topics that Princess Latifa is also understood to be passionate about.  

Dubai authorities sanctioned the release of two photographs taken last week. The first showed Latifa and two friends at a shopping mall. 

The second was of Latifa and a friend on the terrace of an Italian restaurant Bice Mara with Dubai’s glittering skyline in the background. 

A close friend, former Royal Navy officer Sioned Taylor, posted the photographs to her Instagram account. The two women know each other from their love of skydiving with Taylor now working as maths teacher at a school in Dubai.

She would have been given permission the ruler of Dubai to post the photographs – the first time Latifa has been seen in public since December 2018 when she was part of a staged photo opportunity with former Irish President Mary Robinson.

A close friend in Dubai told MailOnline: ‘Princess Latifa is out of what she called the “villa prison”. She is no longer under armed guard and has been allowed to see friends. She is able to make contact with friends and have something of a normal life.

‘We are very hopeful that things are moving the right direction and she will be able to decide what she wants to do. The fact that she is no longer being held in a villa against her will is a major step forward.’ 

Earlier this year, Latifa described her hostage ordeal in a series of haunting videos obtained by MailOnline.

They were secretly made after being kidnapped by her father in 2018 as she tried to flee the country to start a new life in the United States.

In one video she said she was ‘hostage’ and described where she was staying as a ‘villa prison’ with her every move monitored by security forces working for her father.

She said: ‘This villa has been converted into a jail. All the windows are barred shut.

‘There’s five policemen outside and two policewomen inside. I can’t even go out to get fresh air. So basically, I’m a hostage.’

Latifa had escaped Dubai in February 2018 after recording a disturbing video in which she revealed her troubled relationship with her father.

She was captured on a yacht off the coast of India and forcibly returned to Dubai where she was ‘imprisoned’ and guarded round the clock

After the release of the February 2021 videos, the United Nations demanded to see proof of life and called for Latifa to be freed.

The Free Latifa campaign have recently demanded sanctions be placed on the Dubai ruler over his failure to release his daughter and comply with the UN demands.

Latifa is one of the Sheikh’s 30 children and has previously claimed she was tortured an imprisoned after a failed attempt to flee Dubai in 2002.

The Dubai ruler, one of the world’s richest men and largest property owners in the UK, had claimed his daughter was suffering from a mental illness and was being looked after by his family.

With the UN demand for proof of life and threat of sanctions Latifa’s supporters believe he has finally agreed to allow his daughter more freedom.

David Haigh, co-founder of the Free Latifa campaign, said they are monitoring events very closely.

He said:’ This is all very good news and there are certain matters going on behind the scenes that we are hopeful will result in further positive news’

The previous photo, posted on Saturday, appears to show Taylor, who was also in the earlier image, sitting next to Latifa at a restaurant. Both women are smiling in the photo.

‘Lovely food at Bice Mare with Latifa earlier,’ the caption on the new image reads. 

Latifa and Taylor are dressed differently than in the earlier photo, suggesting the images were taken on different days. 

Bice Mare is a 4.5 star Italian seafood restaurant described as a ‘contemporary setting for seafood cuisine, with terrace overlooking Burj Khalifa and Dubai Fountain.’ 

Photos of the restaurant online show a terrace that appears similar to the one Latifa and Taylor are seated at in the new photo.  

The first image, which was posted on Thursday and picked up by media on Saturday, showed the princess with two friends at the Emirates Mall in Dubai some time in the last week. 

Supporters of the Free Latifa campaign said the two women with the Princess had been friends of hers for many years.

In the background a cinema can be see advertising the film Demon Slayer: Mugen Train. The film was released in the UAE on May 13.

Friends of Latifa are convinced the photograph is genuine and was not taken under any duress.

The other woman in the first photograph has been identified as Lynda Bouchikhi.

Dubai authorities have not commented on the photos but it is believed they would only have been released with the permission of the emirate’s ruler.  

Former French spy Herve Jaubert, who helped mastermind Princess Latifa’s attempted escape in 2018 aboard his yacht Nostromo, welcomed the release of the photo.

He said: ‘If true, I am so relieved to hear this wonderful news. Princess Latifa looks straight to the camera and seems to be herself and happy.’

Radha Stirling, founder of Detained in Dubai and the person Latifa first contacted after her 2018 escape, also said the photo was a step in the right direction.

She said: ‘We are seeking clarification from Dubai and remain hopeful that Latifa is safe and well.

‘If the photo is genuine, it would indicate that the UAE intends to perhaps allow Latifa to return to public life as mentioned in their last statement.

‘After Latifa’s latest video messages were broadcast, the Maktoum family is even more determined to keep Latifa within the city of Dubai.

‘From their perspective, they have seen what happens to British royals when family members start airing their dirty laundry in public.

‘They don’t want to see Latifa end up on Oprah. The family still maintains that Latifa has mental health problems which they do not intend to make a spectacle of.

‘The Maktoums see many of the people calling for Latifa’s release as self interested.

‘They’re not going to release Latifa into the hands of those who may use and manipulate her, and they don’t want to see her as an adverse witness in the British courtroom drama surrounding Princess Haya.

‘Through understanding the UAE’s perspective, there is a higher chance for Latifa to be finally freed. We are hopeful that may involve a diplomatically arranged alternative whereby Latifa were permitted to conditionally live in the United States.

‘In the interim, we are hopeful that Latifa will return to public life and enjoy increased freedom within the Emirates.’ 

Earlier this year Latifa smuggled a series of haunting videos out of captivity, describing herself as being held ‘hostage’ by her father Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum.

Speaking publicly for the first time in three years, the 35-year-old royal prisoner described in vivid detail how her dramatic 2018 escape attempt involving jet skis and a yacht ended in her brutal recapture and forcible repatriation.

In the most damming video filmed after her failed escape, the Princess says: ‘I’m a hostage.’

She continues: ‘And this villa has been converted into a jail. All the windows are barred shut.

‘There’s five policemen outside and two policewomen inside. I can’t even go out to get fresh air. So basically, I’m a hostage.’

Latifa escaped Dubai in February 2018 after recording a disturbing video in which she revealed her troubled relationship with her father.

She was captured on a yacht off the coast of India and forcibly returned to Dubai where she was ‘imprisoned’ in a villa and guarded round the clock

After the release of the February 2021 videos the United Nations demanded to see proof of life and called for Latifa to be freed. 

Last month UN experts demanded the UAE ruler provide information about his daughter and release her.

The UAE said on February 19 Latifa was being cared for at home, after the UN human rights office headed by Michelle Bachelet asked for proof she was alive.

‘We are alarmed that, following the public release in February of footage in which Sheikha Latifa reported being deprived of her liberty against her will, and the subsequent official request for further information on her situation, no concrete information has been provided by the authorities,’ the independent UN human rights experts said in joint statement.

‘The statement issued by the Emirates authorities merely indicating that she was being ‘cared for at home’ is not sufficient at this stage,’ added the experts, who include the UN investigators on torture and on violence against women.

The joint statement said the experts called ‘for independent verification of the conditions under which she is being held, and for her immediate release’.

A spokesman for Bachelet’s office said earlier last month it had not received a requested ‘proof of life’ for Sheikha Latifa from the United Arab Emirates.

Senior UN officials sought a meeting with the UAE ambassador in Geneva about Latifa, which in principle has been agreed, the spokeswoman said at the time.

The fate of Latifa and her strained relationship with her father, who is also a vice-president of the UAE, has cast a new spotlight on his family affairs.

Her situation drew international attention in 2018 when a human rights group released a video made by her in which she described an attempt to escape Dubai.

In the video, Latifa accused her father of jailing her for three years in 2002 when she tried to escape what she called his ‘repressive control’.

The princess said she was drugged and tortured on the orders of her father. She said was not allowed to drive, had no passport and was followed by a team of guards. 

Latifa also claimed her older sister Shamsa is being kept against her will in Dubai after she tried to escape the kingdom and was abducted from the UK in 2000.

Latifa, who is one of the Sheikh’s 30 children by his six wives, fled Dubai by jet ski to rendezvous with a yacht waiting to sail to India. 

After eight days at sea, the yacht she was travelling on was boarded by Indian commandos off the coast of Goa and she was returned to the custody of her father in Dubai.

Latifa hoped to travel to India and then the United States to seek asylum.

The sheikh says Latifa was tricked into escaping by criminals who wanted money and that returning her to Dubai was a rescue mission.  

He has been the subject of allegations from a number of members of his family.

As well as Latifa and one of her sisters, two former wives claim he abused them. The sheikh denies the claims.