Saudi Prince Loses Court Claim with King Fahd 'Wife'
A Saudi prince lost an early round of a multi-million pound British court battle on Monday against a woman who claims she was married to his late father King Fahd.
Prince Abdul Aziz bin Fahd argued his father had "state immunity" and that the English High Court had no jurisdiction to hear Janan Harb's claim that the former Saudi ruler owed her millions of pounds.
But judge Vivien Rose ruled King Fahd's immunity had expired upon his death in 2005 as he ceased to be head of state.
Harb threatened to "spill the beans" on the Saudi royal family if Abdul Aziz appealed the decision.
"After 12 years of persistence I am very happy and relieved," Harb told reporters after Monday's ruling.
"If the prince is going to appeal, I am going to accept the offer of the movie of the book I have written. I am going to spill the beans."
Born to a Christian Palestinian family, Harb is now a British national.
She says she was secretly married to Fahd in 1968 when she was 19 and he was a prince and the interior minister, Rose said.
Harb claimed Fahd, who became king in 1982, had promised to provide for her financially for the rest of her life.
She claims Abdul Aziz told her in 2003 that he was prepared to honor the terms of his father's promise, and had offered to give her £12 million ($20.2 million, 14.8 million euros) plus the deeds to two central London properties.
She took legal action after claiming she had received neither the money nor the properties.
Rose said Abdul Aziz had made no response to "the accuracy or otherwise" of Harb's claims, only contesting the jurisdiction of the court.
The judge said a letter from the Saudi embassy in London explained that the kingdom supported the prince's claim of state immunity for his father.
Little is known about King Fahd's private life, but he was known to have had multiple wives.
Abdul Aziz was not at the hearing.
A spokesman for Harb's lawyer said: "Mrs. Harb is passionate about sharing her personal account of what it is truly like to be married to a Saudi king and believes the exposure will be of public interest.
"Her story has received international interest from film producers and she is currently in detailed discussions to progress the adaptation of her book into a film."
Source: Agence France Presse
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