Consort and wife of the Emir of Qatar
She is arguably the most glamorous first lady in the Middle East, but Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al-Missned is no trophy wife. As the consort of the Emir of Qatar, Sheikha Mozah is one of the most prominent women engaged in civic life in the region. Through her relationships with Unesco’s education programme and other organisations, she plays an active role in raising Qatar’s status, while the Emir avoids accusations of meddling in the foreign affairs of his Arab neighbours and scores points with his western allies.
Unlike some of the region’s other royal wives, Sheikha Mozah is serenely unconcerned with looking demure. Statuesque and diva-esque, she has upped the style game thanks to glossy couture frocks by Jean Paul Gaultier, killer Christian Louboutin heels and exotic reptile-skin accessories. At meetings for her own causes, Sheikha Mozah is partial to gender-bending jackets paired with long column skirts and copious strands of jewels over a pressed white shirt. When abroad, she likes to show off an hourglass figure with a slinky belt or giant corset, and wears her signature cap/turban style hijab pushed back to expose just an inch of her hairline – knowing that the images will be beamed back home, where the public is used to seeing her in black metal-studded kaftans with her hair fully covered by shayla headscarves.