Snapped: Sheikh Hamdan and his celebrity friends

Royals rubbing shoulders…

HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai is well-known for rubbing shoulders with many celebrities who’ve visited Dubai. From sport stars to a UK royal, here are some seriously cool snaps of Dubai’s Crown Prince and his celebrity friends.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Sheikh Hamdan and footballing superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo have been friends for a few years now, and whenever the footballer is in Dubai, they usually meet up. Most recently, when Ronaldo visited Dubai in January 2022, Sheikh Hamdan took him to see Aura Skypool and SushiSamba, which have some incredible panoramic views of the city.

Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan touched down in Dubai on in March 2019 for a whistle-stop four days of filming in the city for his film, Vanguard. But despite an action-packed schedule, the action megastar made time to meet with a very important Dubai megastar, H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai.

Khabib Nurmagomedov

Russian former professional mixed martial artist Khabib Nurmagomedov often visits Dubai for training, and he met up with Sheikh Hamdan back in 2020.

Novak Djokovic

Tennis ace Novak Djokovic met up with Sheikh Hamdan back in 2019. In a post to his Instagram page, Djokovic wrote: ‘I have always had a strong passion, commitment and love for sports and wellbeing. I turned it into a professional career and use it to challenge myself to grow and improve on every level of being daily, but also to inspire people around me to use sport as a platform for good – for discipline, competitiveness, fair play, unity, team work… On my path, I have met many enthusiasts who love sports, but you @faz3 have raised passion and commitment and respect for sport to another level. Love your work and I am happy to be of service on that fantastic mission of yours to bring love for sports closer to people,” the tennis great wrote on his post.’

Prince William

The UK’s Prince William visited the UAE in February. The Duke of Cambridge, who is the future king of England, was here to mark the UK National Day at Expo 2020 Dubai, and visited other parts of the UAE whilst he was here on Thursday, February 10, including Abu Dhabi and Jebel Ali Port. Prince William also met Dubai’s Crown Prince HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum at Expo 2020.

Will Smith

Legendary Hollywood actor Will Smith is a massive fan of Dubai, having visited the city countless times over the past few years. When Sheikh Hamdan’s twins were born in May 2021, Will Smith sent them some very special Aladdin-themed gifts. Dubai’s Crown Prince took to his Instagram stories to thank Smith for the cool gifts which included Aladdin-themed height charts with the name of the new prince and princess on each: Prince Rashid and Princess Sheikha. There were also stuffed genie toys and huge bunches of blue and pink balloons.

Images: Social/provided