Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan’s twins call Will Smith ‘Uncle Will’
The Hollywood superstar signed his gifts for the newborns with the familial moniker on his visit to Fazza’s house
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed has some very famous friends from across the world. Now, it seems that his newborn twins have gained a new honorary family member.
Over the weekend, Fazza’s newborn twins got a special visitor from their ‘Uncle Will’, Will Smith, all the way from a town called Bel Air.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, the Crown Prince of Dubai, became the father of twins, Rashid and Sheikh, last week. His good friend the Fresh Prince stopped by with some very special gifts for his newborns.
Sheikh Hamdan was overjoyed by the gesture from Smith, himself a father of three, saying “thank you” on his Instagram along with three hearts.
Smith has long found a second home in Dubai, forging a close relationship with Dubai’s royal family.
The gifts are Aladdin-themed, reading “Prince Rashid” on one and “Princess Sheikha” on the other, complete with custom Aladdin-themed drawings on each, blue and pink balloons, and a Genie for each of them.
Will Smith played Genie in the live-action Disney remake of Aladdin released in 2019, which grossed over $1 billion worldwide.
The presents also came with a handwritten note signed with a heart from Smith that was visible but illegible in the Instagram photo posted by Sheikh Hamdan on his @faz3 instagram account, which has more than 12 million followers.
The Genie also appears on the letter, signed with what appears to be “Uncle Will”.
Smith and Sheikh Hamdan have been friends for years, with Smith also gifting Fazza with a bicycle earlier this year, for which Hamdan thanked him on Instagram.
Smith, over 50, spoke to me several years ago in Dubai extensively about his love for the city and his renewed focus on being a parent.
“For me, it’s much better because I started in that era so I’ve already created that foundation with fans that can’t be broken, but now, I get to learn these new modern tools. I can stay out of it, and still be famous. Other people, if you’re just starting, you can’t stay out of it and still be famous. You have to be all in it or nobody’s going to know who you are,” Smith told me.
From 2008 to 2012, Smith made zero films, as he focused on raising his children Trey, Jaden and Willow. Now, as all three have become adults, things are changing for him once again.
“There’s a certain amount of freedom that I’m starting to have. I can be gone longer because my kids could come. Now, Willow can come meet me in Dubai and hang out for a week,” says Smith.
“I had my kids in my 20s—I was a parent at 24 years old—and now I have friends who are having kids at 45 and 46, and I’ve always wondered which is better. You’re a better parent if you have kids at 45 and 46, but it’s really great to be free at 45 and 46. I’m torn, but I’m loving coming into that next phase where I’m still youthful enough to make an action movie but all my kids are out of the house,” Smith told me.
His love of Dubai has only grown in the years since he first came.
“I came to Dubai about 15 years ago. I was crossing over to Mumbai. It was the first time that the Emirates Airline had the nonstop from Los Angeles. And so I stayed here a couple days, and it was absolutely amazing to me what the dream of Dubai was,” Smith told me.
“There are just some places where they fit for you. Sometimes you just show up places, and you don’t know why, but it just agrees with you. Dubai dreams the way I dream. I’m completely at home, and I feel inspired, and I want to create, and I want to be a part of the ideas, and the bridge between the Middle East and America and the West. I just feel like my gifts would be particularly useful here. I want to be a part of it,” he told me.
Written by William Mullally