'As I am making this video, I'm a hostage': Dubai's missing royal Princess Latifa alive, releases harrowing plea

After three years of silence from Dubai's missing royal, 60 Minutes has obtained harrowing video footage proving Princess Latifa is alive.

Latifa is the daughter of Dubai's powerful ruler Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum and had not been seen since the 4th of March 2018 when her attempt to escape the United Arab Emirates was foiled at gunpoint.

60 Minutes journalist Tom Steinfort, who's reported multiple stories on Latifa's desperate plight, says while the videos give a glimmer of hope that the princess is alive, it's clear her situation is still dire.

"As I am making this video, I'm a hostage," she says. "The situation is getting more desperate every day."

In the footage, recorded on a mobile phone that had been secretly given to the princess, Latifa attempts to explain the harsh reality of her day-to-day life.

"More than a year now in solitary confinement," she tells the camera.

"(But) I didn't let them break me."

Human Rights lawyer David Haigh has been fighting for Princess Latifa's freedom since she first disappeared in 2018.

In an interview with 60 Minutes, Haigh tells Steinfort about the relief he felt knowing the princess was still alive and praises the courageous intermediaries who facilitated the communication.

"A lot of very brave people put their lives at risk," he says.

Latifa's father, Emirates' ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, has long been criticised for his controlling reign. 

He continues to show no sign of allowing his daughter to leave the palace.

"She is fighting for her life," says Latifa's friend Tiina Jauhiainen, who bravely assisted the Princess in her 2018 attempted escape.

Tom Steinfort's report about the dangerous mission to expose Dubai's darkest secret and free the kidnapped royal can be seen when 60 MINUTES returns on Sunday, February 28.