Close shave for Arab diplomat groom in a hairy bride-to-be snafu: Removes veil to find she has beard 
 
 Robine/Getty An Arab groom received a shock when he removed his bride's veil on their wedding day - to find she had a beard. 
 
 An Arab ambassador escaped married life by a whisker. 
 
 The diplomat had his marriage instantly annulled after he tried to kiss his veiled bride and discovered she had a beard and was cross-eyed. 
 
 The unnamed groom had never seen the woman's face because she wore a niqab throughout their entire courtship, according to reports. 
 
 He freaked out after they signed the marriage contract in Dubai, canceled the reception and went right to an Islamic Sharia court. 
 
 He demanded the union be annulled, that $137,000 he'd spent on wedding gifts and expenses be returned, and the bride be examined for "hormonal deficiencies." 
 
 "He was absolutely horrified," said a wedding guest, according to London's Daily Mail. 
 
 "The bride had a nice personality, but there was a good reason why she was hiding her looks behind a veil. 
 
 "A divorce was inevitable, and the groom went straight to court, leaving his new bride in floods of tears." 
 
 The ambassador alleged that that his would-be mother-in-law had shown him pictures of his intended's sister to trick him into marrying the homelier woman. 
 
 "Every time the couple met, the bride would do her best not to reveal her entire face," a source close to the case told the local Gulf News this week. 
 
 The court granted the annulment but did not approve compensation. 
 
 A doctor who examined the jilted bride, who is also a doctor, did not find any medical reason for her facial hair. 
 
 The report did not identify the ambassador nor give any further details 
 
 tconnor@nydailynews.com 

 Ambassador calls for divorce after veil-wearing Muslim bride reveals a beard and crossed eyes 
 
 
 
 By Peter Allen 
 
 
 
 Last updated at 12:35 AM on 11th February 2010 
 
 Nice personality: A Muslim woman wearing the veil (file picture). The would-be bride kept her face hidden behind a niqab throughout the courtship 
 
 
 
 An Arab ambassador called for an instant divorce after discovering his veil-wearing fiancée had a beard and was cross-eyed, it emerged today. 
 
 
 
 The would-be bride had hidden her face behind a Muslim niqab throughout their short courtship, meaning the diplomat had no idea what she looked like. 
 
 
 
 But as soon as the marriage was contract was signed in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, he tried to kiss her, before coming face-to-face with her hairy face and strange squint. 
 
 
 
 ‘He was absolutely horrified,’ said a wedding guest. 
 
 
 
 ‘The bride had a nice personality, but there was a good reason why she was hiding her looks behind a veil. 
 
 
 
 ‘A divorce was inevitable, and the groom went straight to court leaving his new bride in floods of tears.’ 
 
 
 
 The unnamed ambassador, who is in his 40s and has worked all over the world, including in Paris, told an Islamic Sharia court that he was tricked into the arranged marriage, Dubai's official government newspaper reported. 
 
 
 
 He claimed the woman’s parents sent his own mother and and father pictures of her far more attractive sister. 
 
 
 
 A legal source said: ‘Every time the couple met, the bride would do her best hide her entire face. 
 
 
 
 ‘The woman, who is a physician, was very keen to marry him, as she had had very few suitors, even though she’s well into her 30s.’ 
 
 Lawyers for the ambassador successfully called for the marriage to be annulled, but his demand for £100,000 to cover the cost of the wedding reception was rejected, following the conclusion of the case on Tuesday. 
 
 
 
 He had spent the money on food, drink, wedding cars and jewellery. 
 
 
 
 The ambassador’s legal team also made an application for the woman to be examined for hormonal deficiencies, but when she went to see a doctor nothing out of order was found. 
 
 
 
 ‘She’s devastated by the entire experience,’ added the source.
– An Arab country's ambassador to Dubai had his marriage annulled after discovering he'd accidentally married a bearded, cross-eyed woman. The ambassador says his bride-to-be's face had been covered by a niqab throughout their courtship and he only discovered the beard when he went to kiss her at their wedding. He claims her family duped him by showing him a picture of her attractive, beardless sister, the New York Daily News reports. "He was absolutely horrified," a wedding guest told the Daily Mail. "The bride had a nice personality, but there was a good reason why she was hiding her looks behind a veil. A divorce was inevitable, and the groom went straight to court, leaving his new bride in floods of tears." A court agreed to end the marriage, but rejected the groom's request to have the money he'd spent on wedding expenses returned.