The wives and daughters of Dubai's ruler live in unbelievable luxury.

So why do the women in Sheik Mohammed's family keep trying to run away?

The New Yorker's staff writer Heidi Blake joins in the dark's Madeline Barron to tell the story of the royal women who risked everything to flee the brutality of one of the world's most powerful men.

In four episodes, drawing on thousand of one of the world's most powerful men.

In four episodes, drawing on thousands of pages of secret correspondence

and never before heard audio recordings,

the runaway princesses takes listeners behind palace walls revealing a story of

astonishing courage and cruelty. Hello my name is Littif al-Machtoam. I was born in

December 5, 1985. My father is the Prime Minister of

UAE and the ruler of Dubai, Muhammad Rashid Saeed al-machto. In February of Dubai, Muhammad bin Rashid al-Makto.

In February of 2018, a princess from the royal family in Dubai, sneaked over to a friend's

apartment and recorded a video.

I'm making this video because it could be the last video I make.

It was part of a secret plan that took her years to put together to escape from Dubai.

The plan involved an inflatable dinghy and jet skis and a yacht secretly waiting out in the Indian Ocean.

Princess Latifah left her video with friends.

She told them to release it if something went wrong.

And if you are watching this video, it's not such a good thing.

Either I'm dead or I'm in a very, very, very bad situation.

She said, I don't know what's happening outside. I hear gunshots men and then we just heard nothing. It was just a complete blank.

Where are they? What have they done to them? Are they dead?

Are they not dead?

...