Mary Robinson due on Late Late Show to ‘set the record straight’ on Dubai princess meeting

Former president Mary Robinson will appear on the Late Late Show tonight to tell the full story of how she believes she was “horribly tricked” when she was photographed with Princess Latifa, the daughter of the ruler of Dubai in 2018.

Princess Latifa Al Maktoum has accused her father of holding her hostage following attempts to flee the emirate, video messages to friends claim.

She escaped from Dubai in February 2018 but was forcibly returned the following month.

The princess has not been seen in public in over two years – and recent BBC Panorama obtained footage of video messages recorded by the princess where she said she was being kept as a “hostage” in a “villa jail”.

In the messages, she said: "I'm a hostage. And this villa has been converted into a jail.”

Photographs were released by her family of Mrs Robinson Mrs Robinson is a friend of Sheikh Mohammed's sixth wife Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein and was previously photographed with Princess Latifa at a lunch in the family’s villa.

Mrs Robinson previously described Princess Latifa as a "troubled young woman", but has since admitted she was "misled".

She said she was told that Latifa had “quite a serious bipolar problem”.

"And they were saying to me, in a way that was very convincing: 'We don't want Latifa to go through any further trauma'.

"I didn't know how to address somebody who was bipolar about their trauma.

"And I didn't really actually want to talk to her and increase the trauma over a nice lunch."

Ryan Tubridy said this morning that Mrs Robinson would be “coming on to set the record straight” on the incident.

The UN has asked the United Arab Emirates for proof that the Dubai ruler’s daughter is still alive, after the release of the secret messages.

Other guests on the Late Late Show tonight include Paralympian athletes and Ireland’s Eurovision entry.