The family is a branch of the Bani Yas clan (a lineage the family shares with the Al Nahyan dynasty of Abu Dhabi), which is a branch of the Al Bu Falasah section of the Bani Yas, a tribal federation that was the dominant power through the region that now forms the United Arab Emirates.

[4] Although unofficial, the presidency is de facto hereditary to the Al Nahyan clan of Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the Prime Minister, Vice President and Minister of Defence post de facto is hereditary to the Al Maktoum clan of Dubai.

[7] Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum also alleged that she was kidnapped off the coast of India on the orders of her father.

[9] On 29 June 2019, The Sun reported that the wife of Sheikh Mohammed, Princess Haya bint Al Hussein, had fled Dubai and was in Germany seeking political asylum along with her children son and daughter.

[15] In December 2019, a UK family court ruled that—on the balance of probabilities—Sheikh Mohammed had orchestrated the abductions of Sheikha Latifa and Sheikha Shamsa and that he continued to maintain a regime whereby both were deprived of their liberty, and had subjected his former wife, Princess Haya, to a campaign of "intimidation"; the findings were published in March 2020.