LONDON (Web Desk) – Sheikh Rashid was the eldest son of Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum – a handsome prince with a glittering future ahead of him. But on Saturday, he was laid to rest after apparently dying of a heart attack at home on Friday.
Although the official cause of death has been given as a heart attack, Western media was quick to propagate unfounded allegations against the prince. The Daily Mail alleged that the prince had died of drug addiction, not heart attack.
Read more: Dubai mourns death of ruler’s eldest son Sheikh Rashid bin Mohammed
Rashid, who at one point held a number of high profile roles, quietly withdrew from public life in the years leading up to his death and became an enigmatic figure in the emirate he was once destined to rule.
Born in November 1981, Rashid was the son of Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed and his principal wife, Sheikha Hind bint Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum.
Provided with a princely education, Rashid’s academic career began at the prestigious Rashid School for Boys in Nad Al Sheba. Later, he moved to the UK to attend Sandhurst – a top training college for British military officers – before graduating in 2002.
On his return to Dubai, he assumed an increasingly high profile and took on a number of prominent public roles, as well as partnerships in a series of lucrative businesses.
Whatever the truth of his alleged penchant for drugs, there is no denying that the death of a young man in his prime is anything but a tragedy.
