Dubai ruler's wife seeks UK forced marriage protection order for children

London (AFP) - The estranged wife of the ruler of Dubai has applied for a UK forced marriage protection order relating to their children, a London court heard Tuesday.  

Princess Haya, 45, a wife of 70-year-old United Arab Emirates Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, has applied for the order, as well as for wardship of their children, and a non-molestation order relating to herself, the High Court heard. 

The couple are locked in a legal battle in London over the welfare of their two children. At a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, judge Andrew McFarlane allowed media to report that Princess Haya, a Jordanian royal, had made the applications. T 

he court also heard that Sheikh Mohammed has applied to the High Court for the summary return of the children to Dubai. 

Distinct from arranged marriages, forced marriages, in UK law, are those without the full and free consent of both parties. 

A forced marriage protection order can be used to help someone who is being forced into marriage or who has been subjected to one, according to the government's official leaflet on the orders.

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