Diver, skydiver, and falconer lover. He loves lions and white tigers. He’s a snowboarder and a poet, a fine rider, a repeated winner of horse competitions. He owns expensive cars and a yacht – Crown Prince of Dubai Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.
Only a few would have thought that Hamdan would be the crown prince. The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed, the Prime Minister, Vice-President, and Minister of Defence, has 12 children. Hamdan is the fourth son.
He has created Crown Prince in 2008. Prior to this, the direct heir was the eldest son of Emir Mohammed, Prince Rashid. It was he who was preparing to become his father’s successor: the Emir introduced him to state affairs and trusted him to control various economic projects. However, Rashid suddenly fell into disfavor.
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The younger brother of Rashid Hamdan was appointed as Crown Prince of Dubai, and the former heir had no place in the emirate’s leadership. Why this happened was only revealed in 2010, after the publication of the Wikileaks series. A telegram from the United States Consul General in Dubai, David Williams, reported that Rashid had killed one of the workers at the Emir’s Palace. This angered his father, and he changed the order of succession.
UAE Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum with sons Rashid and Ahmed at the graduation ceremony of the American University in Dubai, May 13, 2006
The new Crown Prince Hamdan quickly became a press darling. Like his father, he writes poems, some of which became the basis of songs. In the UAE, he is better known under the pseudonym Fuzza. By the way, his Instagram page is also called this way.
The 37-year-old heir to the throne of Dubai has a special love for social media. Many UAE sheikhs try to hide their acquisitions from outsiders and have a rather private lifestyle, but Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum is a secular figure who is followed by more than 10.4 million subscribers on Instagram.
The Prince often angers the public by displaying wealth in his microblog. He posses for the Maldives and is photographed in the interiors of magnificent palaces. Hamdan only changes his luxury habits when traveling to Europe. There he prefers to ride the streets of the city by bicycle, surrounded by several bodyguards.
Zabeel Palace is the residence of the UAE royal family in Dubai
The owner of a huge fortune, Hamdan travels a lot and is fond of typical royal family things. Races «Formula-1», falconry hunting and equestrian sport.
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In the Emirates, there are a lot of jokes that the Crown Prince has tried all kinds of sports, including extreme ones: skydiving, diving, fishing, snowboarding, mountaineering, cycling. Life as a young billionaire is like an Eastern fairy tale.
The Arab prince has been accustomed to luxury since childhood: together with six brothers and nine sisters he lived in luxurious palaces. All the property belonged to the father, ruler of the Emirate of Dubai, Prime Minister of the UAE Muhammad bin Rashid al-Maktoum. His fortune is estimated at nearly $14 billion. Forbes magazine has written repeatedly about the Prince. Hamdan’s fortune is estimated at between $5 billion and $13 billion.
Quattroelle Shadow
He lives with his family at the Zabeel Palace in Dubai. He also has luxurious residences in Abu Dhabi and in the desert near Dubai. He owns a huge yacht worth $400 million. The interior of this ship is more luxurious than the interior of a five-star hotel. There are 48 comfortably accommodated people. The prince has other yachts – Dubawi Super Yacht with a length of 91.4 m and a small 55 m Quattroelle Shadow.
In addition, he likes luxury cars. The heir’s garage has supercars worth over a million dollars. Ferrari LaFerrari, for example. However, the favorite are Mercedes-Benz AMG G63 and Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, Lamborghini Veneno, McLaren P1, Bugatti Veyron, Ferrari F12, Aston Martin One-77.
Hamdan spent most of his life abroad – he received a brilliant education in Britain, at the elite Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst. The Arab sheikhs have traditionally given their sons to this institution. He was also a student of Prince Harry and Prince William, heir to the British throne. After Sandhurst, Hamdan graduated from the London School of Economics.
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In social networks, the Dubai prince is compared to Disney’s Aladdin, the hero of The Thousand and One Nights. Until 2019, he was considered one of the most eligible suitors in the world. At the age of 36, he got married. His engagement to Hessa, a maternal cousin, was known 11 years ago, but the wedding took place only in 2019. The reasons for this slowness have not been disclosed.
