Spring 2020 Issue
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Heartthrob, Action Man, Photographer, Royal… But Plain ‘Fazza’ to His People By Tony Lennox
Dubai’s Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has it all: good looks, a personal fortune of some $5bn, an all-action lifestyle, and millions of adoring followers.
S
ome guys, as Robert Palmer once sang, have all the luck. When the 37-yearold royal married in 2019 he doubtless broke a few hearts. He had been one of the world’s most eligible bachelors, a man could have stepped from the pages of a febrile Jilly Cooper novel. “Fazza” — as he is known to Dubai citizens and his global Instagram following — is heir to the throne of one of the richest states on earth. He travels the globe, hobnobbing with the world’s most interesting people; he rides horses (and camels), skydives, scuba-dives, and plays polo and tennis. He fits all this activity into a hectic schedule — which includes directing the affairs of state — and sails his own superyacht, writes poetry… and rescues injured animals. The keen amateur photographer rescued an Arabian oryx, which had become trapped in plastic netting, in 2018. He posted video footage of the rescue on his Instagram account. He did the same when he saved a stranded turtle, pushing it seaward with one hand while filming with the other. All this has made the dashing sheikh a particular favourite of Emirates Woman, a glossy fashion and lifestyle magazine which tracks his every move, writing about his exploits — whether rubbing shoulders with Prince Charles at Royal Ascot or nuzzling gazelle.
Paradoxically — for a young man passionate about all things modern, from robots to rockets to space travel — Sheikh Hamdan is committed to preserving Emirati heritage, whether it’s poetry, his love of camel racing or falconry.
Falconry was once the sport of Arab royalty, though in recent years its popularity has waned. Hamdan would like to see the sport restored to its former glory. He owns many birds of prey and is frequently pictured with his favourites. His fascination for the history of his people led him to establish the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Centre in Dubai, which promotes and fosters Emirati culture. In a country with an obsession for all things modern, Sheikh Hamdan is eager to remind Dubai of its Bedouin past. He holds an annual camel trek into the desert, but his greatest passion is equestrianism. “I love horses,” he says, “they are my life. When I ride my cars I feel bored. With horses it’s different. I love to be with them.” Sheikh Hamdan could be seen taking part in (and winning) a 120km endurance horse race in neighbouring Saudi Arabia in February this year. He won individual gold at the 2014 World Equestrian Games, held in Normandy, and led the UAE team to gold in 2012. His passion for horses means he’s a frequent visitor to his father’s Godolphin stables in Newmarket. The prince’s love of horses stems directly from his 70-year-old father, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE vicepresident and ruler of Dubai, also a talented rider in his day. Sheikh Mohammed is a giant of the horseracing world, having invested many millions in Godophin, which operates state-of-the-art stables in England, Australia, Ireland, Japan and the US as well as Dubai. Sheikh Mohammed’s influence on the sport has been transformative. Launching Godophin in the early 1990s, he injected cash and modern CFI.co | Capital Finance International
training techniques into a flagging sport. Sheikh Hamdan is actively continuing his father’s legacy. The Crown Prince, who regularly attends elite racing events across the globe, is heavily involved in the care and development of Godophin’s horses. The animals are not so much trained as royally pampered. Englishman Charlie Appleby, who has worked for Godolphin as a trainer since 2013, recently joked: “The horses want for nothing. If I was ever to come back as an animal, I’ll be a Godophin racehorse, please.” Sheikh Hamdan’s enthusiasm for photography is clear from his Instagram account, which has 9.4m followers. He takes pictures of almost everything he does, and everywhere he goes. A recent photograph of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, with its topmost spire spearing the clouds, went viral. Many of his photographs and videos are taken as he plunges through the skies over Dubai in another of his roles — that of semi-professional skydiver. And when a new and dizzyingly high zip wire was installed in Dubai’s forest of skyscrapers, the prince was one of the first to try it out… filming his breath-taking descent as he went. Sheikh Hamdan founded the Hamdan International Photography Awards in 2012. The awards, which offer prize money of $400,000 — the world’s largest photography prize — attract entrants from around the world. He follows dozens of other photographers on Instagram, but he also tracks innovators such as Tesla founder Elon Musk. Tesla is currently involved in converting Dubai’s taxi fleet to all-electric vehicles. The Sheikh is known to keep an eye on Los Angeles-based Zach King, a YouTuber famous for his “magic vines” — video clips digitally edited to give the impression of magical tricks. Arabian folk tales are filled with references to enchantment, and perhaps the Crown Prince’s interest in conjuring is yet another allusion to his country’s antiquity. Or perhaps, together with all his other passions, he just enjoys a joke. i 37
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The publication is particularly fond of Sheikh Hamdan’s poetry, written in the Nabati style, an ancient form unique to the Arabian peninsula and used by Bedouin tribes. The verses are passed orally from generation to generation. Nabati went out of fashion as oil brought prosperity and literacy to the region, but Sheikh Hamdan is keen to preserve it for future generations. He publishes his poems (in Arabic) on his Instagram account, covering themes including chivalry, wisdom, patriotism and love.
"Sheikh Mohammed is a giant of the horseracing world, having invested many millions in Godolphin, which operates stateof-the-art stables in England, Australia, Ireland, Japan and the US as well as Dubai."