A High Court judge today ruled for a British woman who claims that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia owed her millions of pounds and a couple of high-value properties in London for being the second wife of the late King Fahd, Daily Mail said.
Janan Harb said that she married the late King in secret in 1968 when she was 19 years old, and was promised to be financially provided for the rest of their life. She said she was forced to leave the country several years later as his family has disapproved of their union.
According to Harb, King Fahd's son, Prince Abdul Aziz, has told her that he was prepared to honor the commitments his father had promised to her, saying that the plaintiff is to receive a lump sum of £12 million and that titles of two central London properties would be transferred to her. The offer was allegedly done at a meeting in 2003, two years before King Fahd had passed away.
Harb said that she decided to seek legal action when she did not received what was promised to her by the Prince.
Justice Rose of the High Court in England ruled today that the Prince could not rely on state immunity to shot down Harb's claim on the family finances. Moreover, the judge noted that Prince Abdul Aziz has yet to respond to the accuracy of the claims presented by Harb to the court, and that his submissions were limited to contesting the court's jurisdiction over the matter.
Harb's solicitor, Mandeep kaur Virdee, said about the outcome, "We are delighted with the outcome of this judgment. The law surrounding this area has already established, confirming that personal immunity ceases when a head of state is no longer in office for any reason. The prince's application sought to extend the personal immunity privilege by suggesting that if a sovereign dies whilst still an acting monarch, the deceased and their agents could continue to enjoy the privilege of personal immunity. This judgment confirms that once a sovereign is out of office for whatever reason, including death, personal immunity does not survive."
It has been presumed that the offer was made in order to stifle any attempts to make the relations public matter. When Harb was asked for comment from reporters after today's ruling, she said, "After 12 years of persistence I am very happy and relieved. 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."
