The last few months have seen much joy for the Jordanian royal family. Princess Iman married her partner Jameel on 12 March 2023, while her older brother, Crown Prince Hussein, recently wed Rajwa Al Saif on 12 June 2023. However, there was one thing people picked up on while viewing Hussein’s wedding; there wasn’t much, if any, of Queen Noor‘s side of the family, including the former Crown Prince, Prince Hamzah.
For those who might not be aware, the late King, Hussein I, was married four times. Queen Noor was his final wife until he died in 1999. Prince Hamzah was named Crown Prince on the insistence of King Hussein before he broke his son, the now King Abdullah. While Abdullah did fulfil his father’s wish of having Hamzah as the heir to the throne, it did not last.
Abdullah had his eldest son, Hussein, named Crown Prince in 2009 as Prince Hamzah was stripped of the title in 2004. So, what exactly happened, why does it involve Queen Noor, and why didn’t members of her side of the family go to Crown Prince Hussein’s wedding?
How A Future King Is Decreed
Unlike other royal families, such as Britain, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, an heir is not born to a king. The present monarch names them and doesn’t need to be the son of the recent sovereign. In the case of Abdullah, he wasn’t intended to be the King of Jordan. From his birth in 1962 to 1965, Abdullah was the Crown Prince of Jordan until his father, King Hussein, passed the title to his [Hussein] brother, Prince Hassan.
Weeks before his death, King Hussein passed a decree to give Abdullah back his former title, hence stripping Hassan of the title. However, many people aren’t aware that while King Hussein was undergoing cancer treatment in 1998, he handed temporary power over to Hassan, who then proceeded to exercise his control in ways he wasn’t meant to. This angered the King, who then reassumed his position. It is believed this attempt at gaining power was why Hassan was stripped of Crown Prince. It was given back to Abdullah just weeks before Hussein’s death.
Before his death, Hussein asked Abdullah to give the Crown Prince position to Hamzah, which is what happened. But once 2004 hit, Hamzah was out.
It took five years after Abdullah stripped Prince Hamzah of the title to name his son as heir. So, why was Hamzah booted as Crown Prince?
The House Arrest
The announcement was made in 2004 that Hamzah had been ousted as Crown Prince. It was speculated that Abdullah wanted to name his eldest son, Prince Hussein, his heir. However, it didn’t happen then, and no successor was named.
As stated earlier, Hussein was named Crown Prince in 2009. Just a little FYI, the Jordanian constitution states that a son can succeed his father as king if he has not named another male relative.
On 3 April 2021, Prince Hamzah was put under house arrest in a crackdown. Four days later, on 7 April, King Abdullah publicly implied that his half-brother was under house arrest and tension between them. Hamzah had sworn loyalty to him two days after being placed under house arrest.
Abdullah alleges that the military chief of staff went to Hamzah’s home and told him to stop attending meetings with government critics. Prince Hamzah was then placed under house arrest a second time in April 2022. He relinquished his titles as a prince of Jordan, despite a month earlier, in March 2022, sending his brother an apology in a letter. He claimed to want to heal the rift allegedly in their family.
What Does This Have To Do With Queen Noor?
Prince Hamzah is Queen Noor’s eldest son with King Hussein. Naturally, she would want her son to succeed her stepson. It was a shock when Abdullah stripped him of his Crown Prince status. In 2021, according to the Daily Beast, Queen Noor blamed “wicked slander” for her son’s house arrest.
Did Any Of Queen Noor’s Children Attend Crown Prince Hussein’s Wedding?
To end this post, we must address whether any of Queen Noor’s children attended Prince Hussein’s wedding. The answer to that is yes.
Princess Raiyah, one of Noor’s daughters with King Hussein, attended the wedding with her husband.
