‘Real Housewives’ star stranded 17 hours away in US as sons shelter in Dubai during Iranian missile strikes
"Real Housewives of Dubai" star Caroline Stanbury found herself in every parent’s nightmare as Iran targeted the UAE and several other Middle Eastern countries in retaliatory strikes following the U.S. and Israeli attacks over the weekend.
The United Arab Emirates has sold itself to foreigners for years as a sunny, safe, tax-free oasis. That peaceful image was shattered Saturday as Iranian weaponry rained down on Dubai, setting fire to a five-star resort, threatening the world's tallest building, and killing one person and injuring seven others at the airport in the capital city of Abu Dhabi.
Stanbury, 49, has been unable to return home to her teenage sons as tensions escalate. Stanbury's separation from her twin boys has weighed on her, even though she doesn't believe her kids are in immediate danger.
"Obviously, it's not ideal for anyone to be separated from their children in something so serious as this and so unpredictable, so unprecedented," Stanbury told Fox News Digital, noting she has considered the UAE the safest place for her family over the last 12 years. "So, I was just sad not to be there."
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The former "Ladies of London" star added that both she and her ex-husband, Turkish financier Cem Habib, were traveling for work when the situation escalated, making it difficult to return. She shares three children with Habib.
Stanbury explained her phone has remained on at all times, and she has been in constant contact with her boys. When they heard explosions overhead, Stanbury said she instructed them to stay away from windows and set up in the garage with a mattress as a precaution.
"There's not a lot you can do … I'm still 17 hours away," Stanbury admitted. "I've been trying to get home, but obviously that's not happening right now."
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Limited flights out of the UAE began on Monday after airspaces over the Middle East closed due to the ongoing escalation. The flights out of Dubai and Abu Dhabi took place as the U.S. State Department urged its own citizens in 13 countries, including the UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon and Oman, to "depart now via commercial means due to serious safety risks."
Since U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and retaliatory attacks on Israel and Gulf states started Saturday, commercial flights have been halted or heavily restricted, leaving tourists, business travelers, migrant workers and religious pilgrims stuck in hotels, airports and aboard cruise ships. Aviation analytics firm Cirium says about 13,000 flights scheduled into and out of the Middle East have been canceled since the strikes started Saturday.
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Stuck abroad and unable to leave Dubai, Stanbury explained her sons initially took the situation in stride.
"First of all, they're teenage boys," she told Fox News Digital. "So luckily for me, I think at the beginning, you know, it was kind of like, 'Whoa, mom, calm down, everything's fine.' You know what teenage boys can be like. So, I kind of liked to leave them in that bubble of like, ‘OK, let them worry about me — me not them.’"
By the second night, the situation had become more real for her boys. The loud blasts, later identified as defense systems activating, rattled her children as they tried to keep up with news coverage.
"I think the second night was a little bit scarier for them," Stanbury explained. "And they realized that this may be ongoing and that they would like to be with me or their father at this time. So, that was difficult."
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Stanbury told Fox News Digital she feels "exactly the same way" as she did before about her safety living in Dubai and has no plans to leave the country she has called home for the last 12 years. She also explained she had been in Austin, Texas, two nights before the 6th Street shooting on March 1.
"Twenty-four hours later, there was a shooting on the street that we had dinner," she noted. "So, you know, it's — where is safe?"
The "Uncut and Uncensored" podcast host noted that violence happens everywhere these days. "That's the problem," Stanbury added. "You just have to be vigilant all around. It's not about moving to different cities anymore, sadly."
"You just have to teach your children and yourself to learn how to protect yourself the best you can, but you can't prepare for any of this," Stanbury said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.