The ruler of Dubai was ordered yesterday to pay his former wife and children around £550 million ($730 million) in what is thought to be the highest divorce settlement set by an English court. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum was told he must pay Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, a half-sister of Jordan's King Abdullah II, a lump sum of £251.5 million and provide a bank guarantee of £290 million to cover children's maintenance and security as adults. The 72-year-old ruler of the emirate of Dubai has long been locked in a bitter legal battle with his 47-year-old former wife, who lives in London with their two children, aged 13 and nine. The High Court ruled in October this year that the sheikh had authorised the use of spying software to hack his ex-wife's phone, and a judge said he had "harassed and intimidated (her) both before her departure to England and since".Judge Philip Moor in his divorce settlement ruling said that Sheikh Mohammed had "accepted that his wealth was sufficient to meet any reasonable order".