Interest in the Jordanian royal family has risen since Crown Prince Hussein wed Rajwa Al Saif. Since our posts on the Jordanian royals have done exceptionally well, especially our last one, we thought we’d continue the trend with this ten fun facts post.
Unlike the British royal family, which stems back centuries, the Hashemites don’t have a long history in Jordan. We’ll be exploring some of that in this post.
1. The Previous Jordanian King, King Hussein, Was Married Four Times
So our first point about the Jordanian royal family is that the previous King, King Hussein, was married four times. Amongst his four wives, he has 11 children, one of which sits on the throne; Abdullah.
King Hussein’s first wife was Queen Dina, who was born a Hashemite princess. However, it quickly became apparent that they had zero in common. Together, they had a daughter, Princess Alia, but that didn’t help the marriage. After two years, they divorced.
Hussein’s second wife was Antoinette Gardiner, who would become known as Princess Muna (more on that later). Their marriage produced King Abdullah, Prince Faisal and twin daughters, Princesses Aisha and Zein. The marriage ended after 11 years in 1972.
Wife number three was Queen Alia, who died in 1977 when a military helicopter she was on crashed. The marriage produced two biological children and resulted in Alia and Hussein adopting a child too. Alia gave birth to Princess Haya and Prince Ali. In addition, the couple adopted a young girl named Abir Muhaisen in 1976, shortly before Alia’s death, after the girl’s birth mother had died in a plane crash. In 1983, a few years after Alia’s death, the Queen Alia International Airport was opened in her honour.
Finally, King Hussein’s final wife was Lisa Halaby, who would become known as Queen Noor. She has four children with the late King, Prince Hamzah, Prince Hashim, Princess Iman and Princess Raiyah. Upon her husband’s death, she became his widow.
2. There Has Only Ever Been One Princess Consort
We mentioned earlier that King Abdullah’s mother is Princess Muna, who is the only Princess Consort known in Jordan. All the other consorts that had become before her were Queens. We’ll explain this in a little more detail later in the piece.
King Hussein’s first wife, Queen Dina, was stripped of her Queen title upon their divorce and was reduced to being a Princess of Jordan instead.
3. Queen Rania Is Involved With Prince William’s Earthshot Prize
It’s no secret we love Queen Rania, who seems like a remarkable lady. So Her Majesty spoke at the 2022 Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit in New York City, where she said the following, according to her official website:
No one can afford to sit on the sidelines. No one can claim that climate change is somebody else’s problem, or shrug it off for future generations to address.
Queen Rania on Climate Change at the first Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit in September 2022.
Rania also praised the late Queen Elizabeth II for her climate change work and Prince William, the current Prince of Wales.
4. Crown Prince Hussein Shares A Love Of Sport With Prince William
Sport is the very thing that can bring heirs together, and Crown Prince Hussein and Prince William have precisely that. Hussein hosted William during the British prince’s visit to Amman, Jordan, in 2018, where they watched England’s victory in the World Cup. Since then, the pair have stuck up quite the friendship. They also shared a bro hug at Hussein’s wedding.
5. Princess Salma Is The First Female Jordanian Jet Pilot
Moving on to the ladies of the Jordanian royal family again, we have Princess Salma. Hussein’s youngest sister and the youngest daughter of his parents, Salma, is the first female jet pilot in the Jordanian Armed Forces. She graduated from a short course in 2020. Before this, she graduated from the Royal Academy Sandhurst in the UK in 2018. We’ll explore this a little later.
6. There Is No ‘Crown Princess’
Over the past few days, the world has been lapping up Crown Prince Hussein and Rajwa Al Saif’s wedding. However, did you know that the title of Crown Princess does not exist in Jordan? We had no idea until the press release came out with Rajwa being called HRH Princess Rajwa. This means that when Abdullah married Rania in 1993, she became HRH Princess Rania as King Hussein was still alive.
7. Male Only Heirs
So, the Hashemites are very different to other royal families in the world because they still have the old rule of a male-only bloodline. Like Japan, the Jordanian royal family only has men in its line of succession. The women are omitted.
However, unlike in Japan, if a princess marries a commoner in Jordan, she does not lose her title and is not shunned from the family.
Men are the only heirs to the Jordanian throne because they must be born to Muslim parents and be descendants of Abdullah I of Jordan.
8. The Title Of Queen Is NOT Automatic
Moving onto the Queens of Jordan again and it’s time to talk about the title of Queen. Unlike in other countries, when the title is automatically given to a consort or the heir upon the abdication or death of the new monarch’s predecessor, in Jordan, the title has to be decreed by the King.
So, for Queen Rania, Abdullah had to decree that she would have the title of Queen. The same happened with King Hussein with his four wives. He had to pass to make them all Queen except Muna, who was Princess Consort. It is unclear why she was never made Queen.
When Crown Prince Hussein becomes King, he must decree to make Rajwa ‘Queen Rajwa.’
9. Jordanian Royals Have A Long History Of Attending The Royal Military Sandhurst In England
The Jordanian royals have long been associated with England’s royal military academy Sandhurst. Many family members graduated from there over the years, including the most recent graduate, Princess Salma. Hussein also graduated from the academy.
10. The Hashemites Have Only Been The Royal Family Of Jordan Since 1921
Finally, the last of our fun facts we have s that Hashemite royal court has only existed since 1921. The Hashemites once ruled Hejaz, Syria and Iraq.
