Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid turns 70: A look back at his life

The UAE Vice President and Ruler of Dubai celebrates his 70th birthday on July 15, 2019

A rarely seen photograph of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid as a boy. Wam

This picture was taken in 1968 at Mons Officer Cadet School, which was a British military training establishment that closed in 1972, transferring its responsibilities to Sandhurst. Wam

At Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldesrhot, United Kingdom in 1968. Wam

A young Sheikh Mohammed performs Umrah in 1974. Wam

Pictured in the 1970s, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid was at the centre of efforts to build the country up following unification. Wam

"The worst things to affect a human being are vanity, megalomania, the belief in one's own power and his dependence on his limited mortal strength," Sheikh Mohammed wrote in a book about his life, My Story: 50 Stories in 50 years, published this year. Wam

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid in the Parade Ring on Day 2 of Royal Ascot week in June 1995. Getty

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, then Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defence, descends a Boeing 777 after opening the Dubai 1995 airshow November 12.

UAE Founding Father Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid watch the final race of the Annual Camel Festival at Nad Al Sheba in Dubai in April 1996. Wam / National Archives

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai with Rama the Cama, the world's first cross between an Old World camel and a South American camelid - in January 1998. AFP

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, who was Crown Prince of Dubai when this photo was taken, takes a break during a 100-km horse race beside the Sakkara pyramids in Cairo, Egypt, on May 19, 2000. Only 18 of the 75 horses that participated finished race and Sheikh Mohammed won with a riding time of five hours and 34 minutes. AP Photo

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid meets Tiger Woods after the 2004 Dubai Desert Classic played on the Majilis Course at the Emirates Golf Club on March 7 in Dubai. Warren Little / Getty

Sheikh Mohammed displays a falcon to US President George W Bush on 14 January 2008. WAM / AFP

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, and Queen Elizabeth II greet hundreds of spectators at Emirates Palace after they unveiled of a commemorative plaque to celebrate the commencement of construction of the Zayed National Museum on Thursday November 25, 2010. Andrew Henderson / The National

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, holds hands with Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al Azhar Dr Ahmad Al Tayeb during their visit to Abu Dhabi in February 2019. Mohamed Al Hammadi / Ministry of Presidential Affairs

Sheikh Mohammd bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, meets Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed , Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, at a Sea Palace barza in Abu Dhabi in April 2019. Mohamed Al Hammadi / Ministry of Presidential Affairs

Sheikh Mohammed stands for a photograph with Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed, chairman of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation, on his sons' wedding day in Dubai in May 2019. UAE Ministry of Presidential Affairs / AFP

Queen Elizabeth presents Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid with a trophy for the winning owner of the 4.20 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at the Royal Ascot in June 2019. Reuters

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, receives credentials from new ambassadors from various countries to the UAE in Qasr Al Watan in Abu Dhabi in June 2019. Wam

1949 was a year of recovery for much of the world as countries began to show signs of economic improvement following the rampant destruction caused by the Second World War.

In the Gulf, the Emirates had yet to unite but were presided over by the British as the Trucial States. In the height of summer, on July 15, 70 years ago, Sheikha Latifa bint Hamdan Al Nahyan, wife of the Dubai Ruler, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, gave birth to the couple’s third son in their home in Al Shindagha. They named him Mohammed.

From a young age, expectations were high for Sheikh Mohammed. At age four he was privately tutored in Arabic and Islamic studies. He began formal education at age 6 and 11 years later, attended an English language school in Cambridge, where he boarded with a local family and was given £2 as a weekly spending allowance, worth the equivalent of around Dh165 today. Sheikh Mohammed’s education took a military turn when he attended at a cadet school, in Aldershot, that would become part of Sandhurst. There he would emerge as the top

Commonwealth student before going to Italy to be trained as a pilot.

As a young man, he had a front row seat to his father’s pro-business mentality that established Dubai as a commercial and trading hub after the collapse of the pearling industry and well before the discovery of oil. These lessons, coupled with his extensive military training, served him well when he went on to become Minister of Defence and, decades later, Ruler of Dubai.

In January 1968, at the age of 19, he accompanied his father to meet Sheikh Zayed in the desert between Dubai and Abu Dhabi to agree to forming a union between the Emirates.

When the British withdrew from the Trucial States and the UAE was formed in 1971, Sheikh Mohammed became the UAE’s first Minister of Defence. The heavy task of setting up a defence force for a country previously protected by the British was placed in his hands.

When it came time for him to rule the emirate in 2006, after his older brother Sheikh Maktoum died, Sheikh Mohammed continued his father’s work of growing the emirate’s economic assets and turning Dubai into a global tourist destination and thriving business hub.