Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum owns four country mansions and 100,000 acres of land in Britain, and his feet have been firmly on British soil.
The ruler of Dubai has long been in touch with the country, especially through their shared love of horses, forging friendships with the Queen. A High Court judge even confirmed in a 2019 ruling that Sheikh Mohammed, 72, "is said to maintain respectful and friendly relations with the British royal family".
He had been a regular visitor to the Queen's Royal Ascot Racecourse and even rode with her in a royal carriage. He presented a number of racehorses to the Queen, including Carlton House, which finished third in the Epson Derby in 2011.
Sheikh Mohammed has invested heavily in the country, particularly in Godofen Racecourse, a sprawling, state-of-the-art complex in New matt, the home of horse racing, that includes a horse pool and a horse spa. Nearby, he owns Durham Manor, a £45 million mansion that was once home to Bishop Erie and later Cecil Rhodes, as well as Multon Paddock, a historic racecourse.
His main residence in Britain is said to be Langcross, a £75 million country estate in Surrey that he bought in 1976 and 21 years earlier when his daughter, Princess Shamsa (then 19), had tried to escape from his control. She was traced to a street in Cambridge and flew back to Dubai via a private jet from Newmart.
Experts say he owns more land in britain than the queen's private estates. These include a 63,000-acre estate in Inveret, the village of Västerås, including a 14-bedroom estate and a 16-bedroom guesthouse. They also reportedly applied for planning permission for a hunting lodge, and his architect complained that Sheikh's trip to the Scottish Highlands was "limited by inadequate accommodation".
Last year, he bought Woodhay, another luxury property in Surrey, for £13 million. Sheikh Mohammed also reportedly bought a huge house in Belgravia Square for £17.3 million in 2013 and a six-storey terrace at Knightsbridge for £61.5 million. He allegedly built a property empire in Britain primarily to house a family supposedly consisting of six wives and about 30 children. The houses are said to have been purchased by the Sheikh for their benefit.
Sheikh Mohammed was born into a ruling family in Dubai and is the third of four sons of Sheikh Rashed bin Said, who ruled for 32 years beginning in 1958. His connection to Britain began as a teenager. In 1965, after completing secondary school in his home country, Sheikh Mohammed was sent to an English school in Cambridge and then to the British Army Officer School in Aldershaot for six months of military training.