The announcement of the marriage of Prince Hussein, heir to the Jordanian throne, a month after celebrating the engagement of his sister, Princess Imam, has brought renewed joy to the royal family of the Hashemite dynasty, led by King Abadalá II and Queen Rania. The news comes after an annus horribilis of palace conspiracies, corruption scandals and health problems for the monarch.
Hussein, 28, on Wednesday became engaged to Saudi Arabian Rajwa al Saif in a family ceremony held in Riyadh in front of the families of the bride and groom: that of Jordanian royalty and that of businessman Khalid al Saif, father of the fiancee. At the beginning of July, the royal family announced the marriage of Imán, the second daughter of Rania and Abdalá, 25, to the New York-based financier of Venezuelan origin, Yamil Alexander Thermiotis, 28.
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“I didn’t think it was possible to have so much joy in my heart,” Queen Rania, who has returned to frequent social media to mark both celebrations, summarized her feelings via her Twitter account. The death of her father in May and the emergency spinal surgery her husband underwent in a hospital in Frankfurt, Germany, in May marked the final episodes in a chain of family misadventures since the spring of 2022.
I didn’t think it was possible to hold so much joy in my heart! Happy Birthday to my Eldest Prince Hussein and his beautiful bride-to-be Rajwa pic.twitter.com/hVhJHhnCir
— Rania Al Abdullah (@QueenRania) August 17, 2022
Crown Prince Hussein studied at Georgetown University (Washington, USA), where Felipe VI. from Spain completed postgraduate studies. After completing his education seven years ago, he began to take part in the first great public acts under the supervision of the kings. Like his father and grandfather, he completed military training at Sandhurst Military Academy (UK). He is now a helicopter pilot with the Jordanian Armed Forces, where he has been providing humanitarian assistance during the pandemic.
His future wife graduated in architecture from Syracuse University (New York State). It is linked to the Saudi royal family through its association with the Al-Sudairi clan, which includes the current King Salmán; and related to the influential sheikhs of the city of Al Attar in the province of Néyed, the geographic center of the Arabian Peninsula. His father is the owner of one of the largest Saudi construction companies, which has built some of the skyscrapers that dot the urban skylines of the Persian Gulf’s most dynamic capitals.
Ahead of the engagement celebrations last year, a Game of Thrones within the Hashemite dynasty nearly destabilized 60-year-old Abdullah II. The palace compound was apparently closed in April when Prince Hamzah renounced his dynastic rights. The king’s half-brother, eldest son from their father’s fourth and final marriage – Hussein of Jordan, who died in 1999 – to Queen Noor, Hamza, 42, was named heir apparent when his half-brother came to the throne 23 years ago. But in 2004 he was demoted in favor of Prince Hussein. He has been under house arrest for 15 months for incitement to hatred in a “conspiracy inspired from abroad”.
Hamzah bin Hussein, Prince of Jordan, son of Noor and Hussein of Jordan and half-brother of King Abdullah II, in Amman in September 2015 KHALIL MAZRAAWI (AFP)
The relationship between the two half-brothers continued to deteriorate, exacerbated by the battle between Dowager Queen Noor and Queen Rania over the defense of their firstborn’s rights. The attempted sedition deepened the dynastic divide in the oasis of calm and security that Jordan sought to represent amid the turmoil in the Middle East.
The identity struggles between Bedouins like Prince Hamza and Palestinians, Rania’s national origin, mark the future of the Arab country. Abdullah II’s marriage to Rania, who was born in exile to a family who fled after the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948, largely embodies the pact between Jordan’s two major communities. Hamzah, for his part, defends the privileges of the Herak, tribal brotherhoods of Bedouins concerned about the changing nature of an increasingly diverse society.
Last summer, a military court sentenced Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, a member of the royal family and childhood friend of the monarch, and former minister and royal adviser Basem Awadala to 15 years in prison for their involvement in the coup plot blamed on Hamza. Both are also Saudi nationals and have maintained close ties with Mohamed Bin Salmán, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia and a de facto strongman in Riyadh.
The Hashemite dynasty was founded by Hussein Bin Ali, Sherif of Mecca and protector of Islam’s holy sites, but the separation of the kingdoms of Transjordan and Arabia under British mandate after World War I led to a hidden rivalry with the Saud. Both royal houses claim descent from the Prophet Muhammad. The marriage of the heir to the Jordanian throne to a young woman from a noble and wealthy Saudi family now seems to bridge the old divide between the two monarchies.
Shadow of Corruption Amid the Crisis
The so-called Pandora Papers, a leak by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which EL PAÍS helped to analyze, revealed last October that Abdalá II is the owner of 14 undeclared luxury properties spread across the UK and US. . The properties were acquired through letterbox companies registered in tax havens and have a total value of more than EUR 96 million. The apartments include a house in Ascot, UK, home of the most popular horse races for the British aristocracy; various apartments in central London; another four luxury apartments in Washington, USA, with panoramic views of the Potomac River, and three adjoining waterfront homes in Point Dume, near Los Angeles, California.
Jordan’s economy has been stunted for some time, with an unemployment rate of more than 25% (40% among those under 30) and more than a million Syrian refugees in their care out of a population of 10 million. The aftermath of the war in neighboring Iraq and Syria has compounded its decline as a trading hub. And the new regional order that emerged from the so-called Abraham Accords (signed by Israel and the Gulf and Maghreb monarchies to deal with Iran) has begun, the mediating role in the Middle East that sees Jordan as an island figured to reject Jordanian stability in the regional hornet’s nest