Sheikh Muhammad's marriage to Princess Haya & her role in Dubai

[Veram98]

Yes, I agree Zonk. I was maybe a bit too harsh in my words. I just wanted to say that she was not good enough to win a medal, there are a lot of riders who are more accomplished. But I think she worked hard to get the qualification and was herself very happy and proud to be able to compete in the Games.

Veram, I am coming to agree very much with your assessment of her being at the very least "in like" if not love. I lean strongly now toward it being her choice, although I maintain that people and events around her had their own share of influence, which is normal, of course. Who is not guided to some extent by their family, their friends, their circumstances, even, and perhaps especially, in marriage?
Moreover, I grant one possible argument to those in favor of polygamous marriages: It is common for men and women who are deeply in love with their spouses to have affairs, therefore why can't it be so that a person cannot love multiple spouses? He could be very much in love with Haya, thus making the business advantages that much easier to jump onto. No one can say it's not possible. Anyone who says a person can only be in love with one person does not know much yet about life.

I know Western man who live in fact not less polygamous than Sheikh Mohammed: a wife + a mistress for decades + a lot of love affairs. One of my best friends is the wife in such a constellation and she is deeply convinced that her husband loves her.

 

[miss b]

some have said that the only reason she made the team was that her father was king of the country she was representing. she booted another rider who was more skilled. once again, i do not follow show jumping. that is what i was told.

 

[Zonk]

Veram98....no problem....like I said...my statement wasn't directed just to you (well..part of it was..the great part). If you read any of the Charlene (girlfriend of Prince Albert) threads (and not to start a comparison between) the two...many make disparaging comments about her being South African champion swimmer. Like its nothing! And she woke up one day and said...I am the South African champion swimmer.

I have never seen Haya ride...but in order to make the Olympic team, I am sure she beat a lot of talented and qualified candidates to do so. And as we have seen from Zara Phillips (grand daughter of Queen Elizabeth) sometimes people put down your talent because of who you are related to. Yes, having loads of money (particulary in an expensive sport) is a step up, but if you don't have the talen and determination it really means nothing.

 

[Veram98]

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]One of PHaya's former trainers (Paul Schockemühle) was quoted recently (while she was in Aachen) that she was perhaps not the most talented rider but very "persistent". This and the fact that she could buy very good horses (as a king's daughter or sister; her father was already dead when she qualified for the Olympics) helped her to do not so bad in international competitions. [/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]

 

[miss b]

everyone keeps saying what a lovely couple they make. if you look at the pics, haya is always looking at him. mo rarely makes eye contact with her. i always remember the interview posted with mo and haya when her horse won. he turns to walk away and plows right into her. never said i am sorry, took her hand, even seemed to notice that he ran into her. she stood there with this fake grin on her face. i was embarassed for her. everyone keeps asking why haya married mo. why don't we ask why mo married haya.

 

[Chanter]

Thank you Zonk for such a decent post!

I would certainly dread to hear some of you speak of my riding!

Well..I guess that depends on your definition of great! She was great enough to make the Olympic team..and not many people can do that.

It always amazes me (and this isn't directed to you Veram98 because others have commented on this in other threads) that some people try to lessen the accomplishments of some who compete at the Olympics but don't necessarily win. Don't get me wrong...while I am sure its truly a thrill to win at the Games....for some of the participants the ultimate satisfaction is because they actually compete in the Games.

 

[Joumana]

was princess haya around? i was curious as to how sheikh mo's sons interact with her. if she was there, does she appear to be close to any particular one of his sons? just curious.

According to the pictures from the beginnen of the marriage, I think that Princess Haya is close to Sheikh Hamdan.

everyone keeps saying what a lovely couple they make. if you look at the pics, haya is always looking at him. mo rarely makes eye contact with her.

I'm agree with you. Haya is always looking at him on the pictures.
I think that she knows the power of a picture very well. So I think she wants to show how she is in love with Sheikh Mohammad and give a romantic idea about them relationship for the people who don't believe on them relationship.

 

[sommone]

Why is it that people continue to say that Haya isn't known in the Western world? That's not true. Majority of the west may not readily be familiar with her, but there is a population of western people who are familiar with Princess Haya. I guess it depends which circles you float in. I will readily admit until I joined TRF a little over 2 years ago, the only royalty I was remotely familiar with and thought existed was that of England. Please pardon my ignorance, but that is the truth. If you have an interest in Equestrian sports, then you may or may not know of her. If your interest lies in royalty, you may or may not know her. If your interests lie in humanitarian efforts and charities, you may or may not know her. If you are familiar with the country or Jordan, or the Middle East for that matter, you may or may not know her. If you are familiar with her father, you might have an even better chance of knowing who she is. It just depends. So to say she isn't known in the west wouldn't exactly be truthful either.

everyone keeps saying what a lovely couple they make. if you look at the pics, haya is always looking at him. mo rarely makes eye contact with her.

I guess whether or not they are a lovely couple would be completely left to ones own individual opinion. I'm not sure which pictures you are looking at, but I have seen plenty where he does in fact make eye contact with her. Just because there is no eye contact with her in some photos, that doesn't mean that they aren't a lovely couple, or he doesn't have an interest in her, or bored with her, or whatever else may be presented as proof he doesn't really love her. That can't be determined by looking at few photos which only capture a brief "snapshot" of a person's life. Now whether he loves her and vis versa, I personally don't know. I hope that their marriage goes beyond political and financial gain for Shk Mo, but if it doesn't, then it is what it is.

I would also like to point out one more thing. Princess Haya may not be the Michael Jordan, if you will, of equestrian sports, but I give her credit for at least having the courage to pursue something she loves. That speaks volumes, IMO, about her. I'm glad she's not letting what people say about her or the fact that she isn't one of the leading persons in the field of the sport itself keep her from competing.

 

[Veram98]

At the beginning he wasn’t used to be seen in public with a wife and felt obviously sometimes a bit uncomfortable, especially when she clung to his arm or wanted to hold hands. In public Arab and Muslim couples usually do not show any feelings and do not touch each other. But he is learning.

 

[Mahoogie]

Princess Haya is a beautiful woman and a horse-loving person, no doubt about that..I think those are the qualities why Sheikh Mo liked her and marry her..If she is an ugly or old Arabian princess, I dont think Sheikh Mo would ran after her even if King Abdullah would beg the sheikh to marry his sister..I dont think that this is an arrange marriage like others were speculating..Haya and Mo had a mutual understanding.Sheikh Mo got attracted with Haya, and Haya felt very flattered by the attention she got from this romantic and powerful man.

 

[ch.ea.kymonkey]

At the beginning he wasn’t used to be seen in public with a wife and felt obviously sometimes a bit uncomfortable, especially when she clung to his arm or wanted to hold hands. In public Arab and Muslim couples usually do not show any feelings and do not touch each other. But he is learning.

Veran98, Mr. Mohammed is quite a poet and one of his poems says "Take advice from the experts. Not everyone who rides is a jockey". With this in mind, may I please ask why Mr. Mohammed needs to learn to be seen in public with Mrs. Haya? Why is the inverse not expected of Mrs. Haya?

 

[Veram98]

Veran98, Mr. Mohammed is quite a poet and one of his poems says "Take advice from the experts. Not everyone who rides is a jockey". With this in mind, may I please ask why Mr. Mohammed needs to learn to be seen in public with Mrs. Haya? Why is the inverse not expected of Mrs. Haya?

I didn't want to say that he had to learn anything (I respect Arab customs in this matter), but it is obvious that he is now in public more relaxed with her on his side than at the beginning of their marriage.

 

[Joumana]

Hi desertrosemrk,
I saw in one of the threads of princess Haya that Sheikh Rashid didn't accept her when she married with his Father.
So can you tell me how is the relationship between them at the moment?

I know from another forum that you are an expert on thoose cases .

Thanks in advance for the answer .

 

[desertrosemrk]

Hi desertrosemrk,
I saw in one of the threads of princess Haya that Sheikh Rashid didn't accept her when she married with his Father.
So can you tell me how is the relationship between them at the moment?
I know from another forum that you are an expert on thoose cases .
Thanks in advance for the answer .

I have not talked to my source in a while but from what I understand it was very hard for Sheikha Hind and her daughters when Sheikh Mohammed married Princess Haya. Rashid loves his mother and sisters and is very protective of them. Haya was the other woman. (Even though Sheikh Mohammed has been married other times. Haya is the second "public" wife. I an not sure about their relationship now, but it seems he is only seen with Haya when he has to, such as public events etc. I honestly do not think he has any other contact with her in less he has to, which is mainly through Sheikh Mohammed and the events Princess Haya attends with him.

 

[Amina]

In an interview with a German newspaper (published in April 2004; she is rather popular in Germany because she lived here for a while) she told the journalist that she met her future husband in 2001 at a horse event and was secretly engaged to him for three years before she asked her brother King Abdullah for permission to marry him. Only the day before her marriage she called the rest of the family to invite them. She asked her grandmother to provide for flowers and a cake. The dress for the marriage had been made for here by a small sewing works in Amman to keep it secret. The next day there was lunch in King Abdullah’s house. “That was it”.

She said that she is living with her husband like other couples, that she doesn’t think a lot about the fact that she is “the second wife”. “This is not an issue. Everybody can see that I am Sheikh Mohammed’s wife.” She concedes that before the marriage she took her time to think thoroughly about the step into a polygamous marriage. “The matter is not to possess somebody. I love this man, therefore I respect the fact that he had married somebody else before.” “What is better: to live like this or to divorce, to repudiate somebody, expel her from the family.”

http://www.wams.de/data/2006/04/16/874849.html

Sorry, my translation is far from being perfect.

Obviously the marriage was not an arranged one.

Thank you for this - it puts a new light on the whole marriage. It seems that she thought long and hard b4 she married him, particularly about the fact that he has other wives. I personally feel it is a love match.

The article mentions explicitely only two wives and calls her the sheikh’s "First Lady, but not the only wife on his side".

I can’t help thinking that she is the "modern First Lady of Dubai" for Westeners and Sheikha Hind is Mo’s most prominent wife for the Emiratis. If the other 1-2 are still his wives or divorced I do not know.

If Haya accepted this arrangement because she loved him so much or because she is now able to play a prominent role on the international scene is difficult to say.

I agree with you about PH being accepted as the "modern First Lady of Dubai" for Westeners with PH, Sheikh Mo has a wife he can appear with on the international scene. I don't think she married him to raise her profile internationally.

 

[kaffir]

"
It is interesting that a woman educated partially in England should have been happy to marry into a royal household where other wives co-existed. "If I mapped out my life, I never would have expected to do half the things I've done, but when I met a man who I knew was my life partner and who I was in love with and friends with - who cared about me and saw the real me - I had no doubts."
Interesting quote.
Princess Haya happy at Newmarket - Telegraph
I think she just gained weight in her chest, no where else.

 

[Duke of Marmalade]

"
It is interesting that a woman educated partially in England should have been happy to marry into a royal household where other wives co-existed. "If I mapped out my life, I never would have expected to do half the things I've done, but when I met a man who I knew was my life partner and who I was in love with and friends with - who cared about me and saw the real me - I had no doubts."
Interesting quote.
Princess Haya happy at Newmarket - Telegraph
I think she just gained weight in her chest, no where else.

What else can she say? She would never ever admit that she is not happy with three other wives around. She keeps excusing herself in interviews with the western media as they don't understand arab culture otherwise her image in the western world as educated and role model princess from arabia was pretty soon in tatters. She will have had reasons to accept that part of the deal as it seems Sheikh Mohammed did not consider divorce.

 

[Seraphine]

She looked better before her marriage. Whatever....her decision
Does anyone knows, if she wants children ? Well Sheikh Mo has enough of them, but why not ?

 

[Paty]

She looked better before her marriage. Whatever....her decision
Does anyone knows, if she wants children ? Well Sheikh Mo has enough of them, but why not ?

Well in my opinion she comes from a very long family with a lot of brothers from direrents mothers, so, why not. I think that she would like to be mother!

 

[salma]

Well in my opinion she comes from a very long family with a lot of brothers from direrents mothers, so, why not. I think that she would like to be mother!

I think she´s happy with Mohammed.

 

[Paty]

I think she´s happy with Mohammed.

I agree with you, I always see them very happy and relax together!