She appeared to be a homeless down-and-out when she was discovered slumped next to railings with a suitcase and possessions lying nearby – while a three-year-old child in her care played perilously close to a busy road.
Shocking video footage captured by a passerby showed the shoeless woman collapsed on the pavement of a smart residential street in west London. Close by was an unconscious man lying on the doorstep of a Victorian townhouse.
Astonishingly the 'vagrant' turned out to be Mahrah Al Nahyan – a member of the fabulously rich Abu Dhabi royal family estimated to be worth £250billion.
Her identity was revealed this week after a court heard how Al Nahyan, 32, had taken part in a drug binge with her male friend before both were discovered collapsed in the street.
Unsurprisingly, as an Emirati royal, Ms Al Nahyan did not describe herself as being of no fixed abode when she appeared at Southwark Crown Court.
Instead the Daily Mail can reveal the formal address she gave as her residence is a magnificent penthouse 'party pad' which was once the home of Duran Duran pop star Andy Taylor.
Mahrah Al Nahyan was found passed out on the street by concerned members of the public in June this year
She was found in a collapsed state close to an unconscious man lying flat on the doorstep of a Victorian townhouse
The polished west London street where the Emirati royal was found collapsed on the pavement
For her weekend drug binge session she had arranged a second luxury property – an Airbnb in the Kensington street where she would later be found apparently comatose
Al Nahyan is seen at Southwark Crown Court, where she admitted a count of child neglect - after a three-year-old child she was looking after was playing perilously close to a busy road
For her weekend drug binge session she had arranged a second luxury property – an Airbnb in the Kensington street where she would later be found apparently comatose.
It is thought to have cost around £200-a-night and to have been booked for at least three nights by Al Nahyan and her male friend.
They are thought to have partied in the basement flat in Sinclair Road – consuming drugs believed to have included cocaine – for the preceding 48 hours before coming to the attention of police.
One neighbour, who was interviewed by police following Al Nahyan's arrest, told the Daily Mail: 'At night I could hear lots of music and shouting and singing and I did wonder what was going on.
'In the middle of one night the woman got locked out when she went to collect a food delivery and I could hear her shouting.
'She then knocked on my door and asked me to call out over the fence to alert her friend. That's when I saw him and he looked quite a mess.
'I realised there were only two of them in there with a young child and found it very shocking. I couldn't believe the racket they were making. It sounded like quite a party and seemed very strange to me.'
Another neighbour revealed that she had been concerned and had tried to speak with Al Nahyan when she saw her slumped on the pavement on the afternoon of Saturday, June 13.
She said: 'I remember it well because it was a very hot day and all my windows were open.
'I could hear a child running around on the road and when I looked out there was a woman sitting on the pavement asleep and a man lying nearby who looked as if he'd been knocked out.
'I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The little kid was on a scooter while the adults were totally out of it. That's when some of us got involved and called the police.'
The neighbour added: 'I asked her [Al Nahyan] if she was OK but she didn't answer so I shook her a bit but she still didn't respond. She was totally out of it.'
Al Nahyan's male companion, who has not been named, was pictured lying flat out on a front garden path in Sinclair Road.
The upmarket Airbnb where Al Nahyan spent a weekend bingeing on drugs with a male friend
The Airbnb's kitchen is seen. One neighbour told the Daily Mail: 'At night I could hear lots of music and shouting and singing and I did wonder what was going on'
Sinclair Road is a quiet, clean and polished road located in Kensington
A third neighbour, who lives in another flat inside the property where their Airbnb is located, said: 'I was coming back from the gym and saw this man lying unconscious outside my front door.
'There was a lot of commotion going on and some people were standing by a woman who was on the pavement.
'Some of them were looking after a child. Then four police cars, a police van and an ambulance turned up. It was quite a scene and we all remember it well.'
Al Nahyan admitted one count of child neglect when she appeared at court this week.
The 34-second video showed her slumped against the railings with her head bowed and arms crossed beside a toy plane – as the barefooted child played with a scooter.
Members of the public took care of the toddler until police arrived but Al Nahyan remained unconscious for about 30 minutes, prosecutors said.
When she awoke she is said to have behaved erratically and shouted: 'This is not a slaughterhouse, why do you care so much? Why are you so worried?'
The court heard Al Nahyan has been undergoing drug addiction treatment at the Priory centre in Woking, Surrey, since the incident.
Rio Pahlavanpour, prosecuting, said the passersby 'noticed the child was unattended, without shoes, on the street with a scooter and members of the public intervened as he seemed to be in close proximity to moving traffic'.
When officers searched her, they found drug paraphernalia but no illicit substances.
Stephen Vullo KC, defending, said Al Nahyan has stopped using drugs since entering the Priory in July and showed 'significant remorse and resolve to overcome her addiction'.
He added that his client had not taken any drugs on the day of the offence, but was very tired having taken cocaine in the previous days.
He said: 'The immediate future is she intends to complete all of the steps of a three-month programme which will come to an end at the end of this month.
'Her plan after that is to rent a property in the Guildford area and become a day patient there, where she will attend Narcotics Anonymous.
'She made a grave mistake that day and she knows it.'
Mr Justice Johnson KC sentenced Al Nahyan to a two-year community order with a rehabilitation requirement.
The judge also fined her £5,000 and ordered her to pay costs of £1,000 after hearing she has an allowance of £8,000 a month.
He said: 'By leaving [the child] to play barefoot in the street while under the influence of drugs, you showed a recklessness and disregard for [the child's] safety.
'On one occasion they ran towards the road while chasing a piece of paper until a member of the public contained [the child].
'But for the intervention of strangers there was a serious risk they would be seriously injured or worse. They could have run away, become lost.
'They could have been taken or harmed by a stranger and could have become distressed seeing you and your friend unconscious in the street.'
The formal address the royal gave as being her residence was a magnificent penthouse 'party pad' which was once the home of Duran Duran pop star Andy Taylor. Its interior is seen here
The £1.6million property is the largest apartment in a Grade II-listed Victorian property which was built as an asylum for girls orphaned during the Crimean War
Andy Taylor is pictured during a Duran Duran in Concert at Webster Hall in New York City in August, 2003
Al Nahyan's permanent residence is a £1.6million penthouse apartment in a Grade II-listed Victorian property in Wandsworth, south London, which was built as an asylum for girls orphaned during the Crimean War
Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone for the Gothic Revival-style property in south-west London, which has a colourful history.
The asylum was closed down after a scandal and during the First World War it was turned into a military hospital.
Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor, 65, lived in the four-bedroom penthouse during the band's most successful years in the 1980s.
He installed a large hot tub and held lavish parties at the property.
Taylor also hosted indoor cricket matches inside the 3,500 sq ft property, with players scoring a boundary by hitting the ball into the wall. In his autobiography, Wild Boy: A Life in Duran Duran, Taylor recounted how a hedonistic, drug-fuelled lifestyle sent him off the rails.