Heidi Blake

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Here's Heidi. She initially moved into a hostel in a pretty gritty part of southeast London. And then eventually she moved in with a friend who she just met randomly on the run. It seems like, to some extent, she kind of just lived as you might imagine a teenager would, having her first taste of freedom in a major city. We know she dabbled with alcohol, kind of made new friends.

Here's Heidi. She initially moved into a hostel in a pretty gritty part of southeast London. And then eventually she moved in with a friend who she just met randomly on the run. It seems like, to some extent, she kind of just lived as you might imagine a teenager would, having her first taste of freedom in a major city. We know she dabbled with alcohol, kind of made new friends.

But she also did something pretty smart. She contacted a lawyer. She found this guy through the Yellow Pages, a lawyer called Paul Simon. And she just walked into his office off the street and told him she was a runaway princess, a member of the Dubai royal family, and that she wanted to claim asylum in the UK. When she said this, her lawyer said something very revealing.

But she also did something pretty smart. She contacted a lawyer. She found this guy through the Yellow Pages, a lawyer called Paul Simon. And she just walked into his office off the street and told him she was a runaway princess, a member of the Dubai royal family, and that she wanted to claim asylum in the UK. When she said this, her lawyer said something very revealing.

He noted in records at the time that he told Shamsa her case was very unlikely to succeed, given the friendly relations between the UK and the UAE.

He noted in records at the time that he told Shamsa her case was very unlikely to succeed, given the friendly relations between the UK and the UAE.