Luxury goods worth more than £11
million are to be seized from a Saudi princess to pay her shopping
bills, a Paris judge ordered today.
Maha
Al-Sudairi, who was once married to the country’s late Crown Prince,
helped herself to millions of pounds worth of goods whenever she visited
the French capital.
As
well as art works and jewellery, they included £5,500 worth of luxury
chocolates, and £1.4m on the hire of two Rolls Royce Phantoms and
‘around 30 chauffers’ to take her shopping.
Maha Al-Sudairi last year failed to settle a
£5.5m bill with the Shangri-la Hotel (pictured) after she took over an
entire floor with 60 servants for six months
Last year, Mrs Al-Sudairi took
over an entire floor at the four star Shangri-la Hotel with 60 servants
for six months, but failed to settle the £5.5m bill.
When
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia refused to pay for her stay, she claimed
diplomatic immunity and moved to the Royal Monceau Hotel nearby.
The 58-year-old has now been sued by six creditors through a court in the suburb of Nanterre.
A judge ruled that three storage
units registered to the princess should be opened, and their contents
sold so as to pay off her debts.
The
princess, who is currently in Saudi Arabia, is the divorced wife of the
late Saudi Crown Prince and interior minister, Nayef bin Abdul Aziz Al
Saud. He died last June, just as Mrs Al-Sudairi left the Shangri-la.
In 2009 the princess was urged to stay away from France after running up unpaid bills of £14m.
The princess is known to have bought three
storage units in central Paris, where she is believed to have stashed
her wares from her shopping trips around the French capital
She is known to have bought three
storage units in central Paris, where she is believed to have stashed
her wares from her shopping trips around the French capital – said to
include luxury leather goods, artworks, jewellery, and clothing worth up
to £10 million.
A spokesman for the Shangri-La said the hotel was pleased at the judge's ruling, but did not expect the bill to be settled soon.
'The
princess's belongings will need to be valued and then sold at auction,
and even then we may need to take international legal action against the
princess before we see any cash,' he said.
The
princess's fabulously wealthy credentials meant her IOU notes handed to
shopkeepers reading 'payment to follow' were usually accepted.
Over the past years, up to 30 of Paris's most exclusive luxury goods retailers have fallen foul of her credit notes.
Jacky
Giami, owner of Paris's Key Largo leisure wear store, said the princess
and her relatives pillaged his shop of more than £100,000 worth of
stock three years ago.
He said he spent days loitering in the bar of the Georges V hotel hoping to confront her, only to learn she had fled to London.
In
1995, Princess Maha was accused of assaulting a servant in Orange
County, Florida, whom she suspected of stealing £150 000 from her. No
charges were filed.
DAILYMAIL
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