Three female members of the Qatari royal family delayed a flight for four hours because they wouldn’t sit next to strangers.

From BBC:

The three wives of Sheikh Badr Bin Khalifa al-Thani refused take up their seats on board Flight 563 from Milan’s Linate airport to London Heathrow.

Police and Qatari diplomats became involved before the captain told Sheikh Badr’s entourage to leave the aircraft.

The Qatari royals eventually ended up getting an Alitalia flight to London.

The story doesn’t mention if there was a religious/cultural basis for the dispute, merely that the women refused to sit next to men they didn’t know. Can anybody add some detail to the story?