Princess Latifa’s terrifying ‘kidnapping ordeal’ to be turned into TV series: Dubai royal’s ‘abduction by her billionaire father Sheikh Maktoum, including daring dinghy escape which ended in recapture’, is set to be dramatised in four-part series

The story of Princess Latifa’s alleged kidnapping will be dramatized in a TV series.

A four-part series about the Dubai royal who is said to have been kidnapped by her father Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum when she tried to escape him and Dubai is set to go into production in 2024 in 2018.

Emmy-winning screenwriter Lindsay Shapero, who is working on the series, consulted with Latifa’s close friend Tiina Jauhiainen to put the script together.

The princess and Tiina had managed to board the yacht Nostromo in international waters off the coast of Goa, India, using an inflatable dinghy in March 2018, as they attempted to flee to the US.

However, they were forcibly taken back to the United Arab Emirates by Indian special forces and Emirati officers who reportedly surrounded the yacht with helicopters and military boats.

A four-part series about the Dubai royal who was allegedly kidnapped by her father Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (pictured) as she tried to escape him and Dubai in 2018 will go into production in 2024

The princess and Tiina had managed to board the yacht Nostromo in international waters off the coast of Goa, India. Pictured: Image taken from a video in an unknown location where Princess Latifa is seen in a mobile phone camera in 2021

The drama series is being developed by Yellow Film and TV, with Irish and Finnish producers Jackie Larkin and Olli Haikka leading development.

Haikka told The guard: ‘The women were kidnapped, imprisoned and interrogated, before Tiina was eventually deported from the UAE, and Latifa was held captive in her own country.’

Larkin added: ‘It is legally very complex but of course, as professionals, we would do the in-depth investigation ourselves and – thanks to the Guardian – there have been some fantastic articles and reporting on this case so far.’

Latifa had escaped from Dubai in 2018 after recording a disturbing video in which she revealed her problematic 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 under 24-hour surveillance.

The story will depict her ‘death-defying escape attempt’, which also saw her hidden in the tire compartment of a car as it was driven across the border.

It will also show the moment Latifa was found aboard the yacht after it was stormed by “Indian special forces and Emirati officers who surrounded the princess and her friend with helicopters and military boats,” according to the showmakers.

The series follows the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, who traveled to Dubai to meet Latifa after her escape attempt in 2018.

Robinson claimed after the meeting that the princess was ‘troubled’ – comments in which she was heavily criticised. She has since apologized, claiming she was “misled” by Latifa’s stepmother – a friend of hers – saying it was the “biggest mistake” she has made in her role at the UN.

Larkin and Haikka said: ‘Robinson was tricked into thinking the princess was not a prisoner but was instead mentally ill. The truth about Princess Latifa’s captivity was finally revealed when Tiina released secret video messages.’

Princess Latifa (left) and Tiina Jauhiainen (right), at a secret location in February 2021

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum with his two daughters Princess Latifa (left) and Princess Mariam (right) in 1999

In 2021, Latifa was seen alive in public for the first time since she claimed in a series of videos that she was being held hostage by her father.

In one video, she said she was being “held 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 prison. All windows are closed.

‘There are five police officers outside and two policewomen inside. I can’t even go outside for fresh air. So basically I’m a hostage.’

A high court concluded in 2020 that the sheikh committed a ‘total abuse of trust and indeed abuse of power’.

The sheikh denied his daughter’s allegations and ordered the kidnapping of another daughter, Princess Shamsa, allegedly snatched outside a Cambridgeshire pub in 2000.