Old News about the Jordanian Royal Family

[Reina]

I found this article about QN from 1991. It is from the "Ten Years Ago in 'Spy'" Journal. I got the idea to start a thread about old news of the JRF-I guess before the 21st century. Enjoy.

http://fawny.org/spy/spy-january-1991.html
Mules or clogs, Your Highness?

A tremendously juicy profile, by Harriet Barovick (later to write for Time and CNN), of Lisa Halaby, renowned the world over under her nom de mariage, Queen Noor of Jordan. His Highness the King, by all accounts, is not only shorter than Tom Cruise but shorter than his lovely American bride (fourth to accompany the churlish dwarf potentate up the marriage aisle).

Queen Noor has frequently referred to herself as a “humble civil servant,” a “working queen” with a “modest” way of life and “no time to worry about [our] own safety.” In addition to the palace in Amman, the palace in Aqaba and a new lavish private residence outside Amman bought this year [1991?], the royal couple also own a country estate in the hills above Vienna – this is thought to be the future residence-in-exile, and they have poured some $5 million into restoring the place, in the process equipping it with an elaborate security system that includes guard dogs, a video camera at every entrance, and a wraparound electric double fence. [...]

A queen must look right, and Noor’s taste in clothes runs toward Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Cardin. At the palace, a chambermaid is employed to attend exclusively to Her Majesty’s wardrobe, which is distributed through several rooms and includes – is this the fin-de-siècle indicator of imminent exile? – hundreds of pairs of shoes. Every item has been photographed, and the photographs are organized into albums to make packing easier.

You mean Her Highness is not preparing herself like a nail-biting kidney-transplant candidate, with an entire LearJet loaded on the tarmac and ready to go?

[Reina]

It would also be nice to see some old Petra news photos from the old days too.

[Reina]

I did not read this yet, but it looks like an interesting read. It is too long to post in one post, so I will do it in separate posts.

Title: THE ALL-AMERICAN GIRL WHO BECAME QUEEN , By: Rompalske, Dorothy, Biography, 10927891, Sep97, Vol. 1, Issue 9
Database: Academic Search Premier

Section: ROYALTY THE ALL-AMERICAN GIRL WHO BECAME QUEEN
Lisa Halaby went to the Mideast to work. Next thing she knew, she was married to a king.

American Lisa Halaby was leading a charmed life in Tehran in 1975 when someone read the grounds at the bottom of her coffee cup and predicted that she would have a remarkable future. The striking 24-year-old Princeton graduate with the cascading mane of honey-blond hair had moved to the capital of Iran after obtaining a position with a prominent British architectural firm under contract there. The job was perfect: It combined her degree in architecture with her taste for travel and adventure, but more importantly, it allowed Lisa to explore her Arab ancestry.

And while her fair hair and blue eyes reflected her mother Doris' Swedish origins, it was her father Najeeb's roots in Syria and Lebanon that Lisa found intriguing. Even the coffee grounds seemed to agree--their pattern foretold that she was destined to return to her Arab roots and marry an important leader. "It was the strangest thing, accurate to the last detail," she would remark many years later about the prediction. By then, she was no longer known as Lisa Halaby, but as Noor al-Hussein, Queen of Jordan, the name given to her in marriage by her husband, who was indeed an important leader-Hussein Ibn Talal, King of Jordan.

Lisa Halaby had been formally introduced to King Hussein in January 1977 at the dedication ceremony of new airport facilities she'd helped to design in Amman,Jordan's capital. In the spring of 1978 the king renewed Lisa's acquaintance, whisking her off for romantic moonlit rides through the hills of Amman on the back of his BMW motorcycle. After a secret six-week courtship, the monarch proposed and Lisa accepted, brushing aside her reservations about marrying into his royal family. As she told the New York Times Magazine, "I was unsure I would be exactly what he needed, that I wouldn't be a hindrance, being relatively new to Jordan and because it happened fairly quickly." True love, however, ruled the day and the couple were married in a small, private ceremony in Amman on June 15,1978.

Shortly before the marriage, Lisa, who had been a nonpracticing Protestant, converted to Islam. The Arabic name the king chose for her, Noor al-Hussein (meaning "light of Hussein"), seemed appropriate beyond the obvious allusion to her crown of golden hair. Lisa's presence had indeed become a light in Hussein's life, lifting the king, at age 40, from the depression he'd fallen into while mourning the loss of his third wife, Queen Alia, who'd died tragically in a helicopter crash in 1977. When she became queen, Lisa also took on the responsibilities of stepmother to Alia's three young children, plus five others from Hussein's first two marriages, which had ended in divorce.

The whirlwind courtship between the willowy beauty and the dashing, intense king, set against the backdrop of one of the world's oldest and most picturesque cities, captured the imagination of the American public. There were frequent references in the press to another U.S. blond who'd made a royal match, Princess Grace of Monaco. Queen Noor, however, was said to be annoyed by the comparison, and she made it clear in several interviews that she was not living a fairy-tale existence. Unlike Grace Kelly, who became princess of a peaceful resort kingdom, Lisa Halaby had married into a troubled country at the center of a volatile region.

[Reina]

For Jordanian conservatives, the American-born Noor was a controversial choice for queen. Before her, by tradition, only full-blooded Arabs had held the title of Queen of Jordan, while other women who married into the royal family, including King Hussein's first two wives, were awarded the lesser title of Princess. Noor's determination (with the king's encouragement) to be the country's first queen with an active role in her husband's government defied still more conventions. She is the first one to have an office on the grounds of the royal palace, from which she works full time on the issues that concern her most--community development, education, women's rights, the environment, and world hunger. Her role as spokesperson in the West for her husband's sometimes unpopular political positions has made her a lightning rod for criticism both in this country and in Jordan, where the people love King Hussein and are hesitant to criticize him directly.

At first glance, there doesn't seem much in Queen Noor's privileged East Coast background that would prepare her to take on such a weighty role. The oldest of three children, Lisa Najeeb Halaby was born in Washington, D.C., on August 23, 1951, into one of this country's most prominent Arab-American families. Her father, attorney Najeeb Halaby, worked at that time for the U.S. Department of Defense. He would later head the Federal Aviation Administration during the Kennedy administration, and then serve as president of Pan American Airways before starting his own venture capital firm, Halaby International. While growing up, Lisa attended some of the most exclusive private schools in the country: National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C., Chapin School in New York City, and Concord Academy in Massachusetts. She entered Princeton University in 1969 as a member of its historic first coeducational class.

Tall, athletic, and beautiful, Lisa was also one of Princeton's original women cheerleaders, yet it was her keen intelligence, ambition, and curiosity about the world that her college friends recall as her most striking attributes. Like many students of her generation, she was passionate about the antiwar movement and she seriously considered joining the Peace Corps. Game to explore all her options, Lisa took a leave of absence after her sophomore year to move to Aspen, Colorado, where she worked as a waitress to support herself while studying photography and spending her free time on the ski slopes.

By the mid 1970's Lisa had begun to develop an interest in her Arab ancestry and when she returned to Princeton a year later, she began to study architecture and urban planning, convinced that a degree in those fields could help her land a job overseas. After graduation, she worked briefly in Australia before securing a job as a draftsman in Tehran. When that position ended in 1976, Lisa returned to the United States and considered switching to a career in journalism. Then her father offered her a job with Arabair Services Corporation, a company he'd started in partnership with the Jordanian government. Lisa was working for one of that firm's clients, Royal Jordanian Airlines (Alia), when she met King Hussein.

After their wedding the royal couple took a honeymoon at Aqaba, the king's resort home by the Red Sea. Then the brand-new bride, stepmother, and queen immersed herself with enthusiasm in the culture of her adopted country. She quickly learned to speak fluent Arabic-the only language she uses while performing her official duties. When at home at the royal palace, which is set within a heavily guarded compound of gardens and low office buildings at the center of Amman, Queen Noor and King Hussein, who was educated in England at Harrow and Sandhurst, usually converse in English. Their four children together--Prince Hamzah, born in 1980; Prince Hashim, born in 1981; Princess Iman, born in 1983; and Princess Raiyah, born in 1986--speak Arabic as their first language, but are also fluent in English.

[Reina]

The queen has adopted a distinctly casual style of dress, yet she maintains a straightforward, regal demeanor. Those who meet her frequently comment on her unusually formal way of speaking. After interviewing Noor for a 1991 profile in Vanity Fair, Dominick Dunne observed, "So deliberate is her prose style that at times I had the ridiculous feeling that she was translating in her mind from Arabic to English ... Every sentence is thought out and spoken in a modulated, complicated, sometimes convoluted manner."

Of course, as the modern-minded queen of a country largely populated by Islamic fundamentalists who believe that women belong only in the home, Noor has to be conscious of the impression she makes with her words and her clothing. While she refuses to dress to suit the radical elements in her country, she respects Middle Eastern standards of modesty. For work she favors below-the-knee khaki skirts and simple blouses or suits, and she never wears a veil. (Jordan, one of the most progressive countries in the Middle East when it comes to women's rights, does not require women to be veiled, although many there still maintain the ancient Islamic tradition.) For trips to the desert countryside, the queen is often seen sporting traditional clothing-American traditional, that is blue jeans and cowboy boots. She enjoys driving her own jeep, though Noor is always accompanied by a caravan of security vehicles.

Security is a serious issue for the royal family. King Hussein, the 38th-generation descendant of the prophet Muhammad, has been on the throne longer than any ruler in the Middle East, despite more than 25 attempts by assassins to end his reign. The first one occurred in 1951 when he was only 15 years old. An assassin fired at Hussein and his grandfather, King Abdullah, during an official visit to Jerusalem. The king was killed, but young Hussein was saved by chance when a medal pinned to the front of his military-school uniform deflected the killer's bullet. He ascended to the throne two years later, after a brief reign by his father, who was removed from power after being diagnosed with a mental illness.

Jordan's strategic geographical position, smack in the middle of Israel, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, adds significantly to its security concerns; King Hussein, conscious of his country's vulnerability, has long been seen as a stabilizing force for peace in the region. His role as friend to the West was jeopardized during the Gulf crisis, however, when he failed to support the Bush administration's decision to send troops to the Middle East to defend Kuwait against the invasion by Saddam Hussein (no relation to the Jordanian monarchy).

With more than half his country's population made up of Palestinians, who supported Saddam Hussein and vehemently opposed any Western presence in the Gulf, King Hussein found himself in an untenable position during the crisis--he could either alienate more than half his people, or anger the Americans, who had refused to allow him the time he believed he needed to negotiate a peaceful withdrawal of Saddam's troops. Queen Noor took on her most important role at this time. At the king's request, she traveled to the United States and embarked on a diplomatic effort to make her husband's difficult stance understood. While she garnered a fair amount of press for her efforts, she made virtually no impression on the Bush administration.

When asked in March 1991 by the New York Times if she had ever felt torn between the two cultures that had framed her life, Queen Noor responded as the Arab she'd truly become: "I don't think I've ever felt any contradiction or any struggle there."

With the Gulf War ended, Jordan has forged an improved relationship with the Clinton administration. Queen Noor can again focus on the internal problems that affect the lives of her people; her crusade to promote democracy in Jordan has been particularly effective.

Recent rumors of discord in the royal marriage, and reports that the king has what the press euphemistically calls "a wandering eye," may be painful for Noor, but she has handled them with the characteristic dignity and discretion she's demonstrated since the beginning of her reign. For while fate may have chosen a beautiful all-American girl to be queen of an Arab nation, this brilliant woman is wise enough to know that life, after all, is not a fairy tale.

[elizahawthorne]

thanks for posting these Reina

Eliza

[Reina]

This is a the remarks of President Carter and then KH during a Jordanian state visit to the U.S. It is cute.

Visit of King Hussein of Jordan Toasts at the State Dinner. June 17, 1980

ContentsPublic Papers of Jimmy Carter Public Papers of Jimmy Carter

THE PRESIDENT. A lot of people have accused me of inviting Their Majesties to Washington just so we could have Queen Noor visit the White House. [Laughter] That's not entirely accurate, because there are many reasons why we should want His Majesty, King Hussein, to come back to visit with us, as well as his beautiful bride and the new mother of his new child, to come with her parents and her brothers and sisters and to be with us this evening. It's a delightful experience for us, and her presence vividly demonstrates the close relationship and the unbreakable ties between our two countries.

The first time that King Hussein came to visit a President of the United States was in 1960, when President Eisenhower lived in this home. And he's been here many times since, a great leader, one who represents accurately the courage and the dynamism and the commitment and the progress of the people of Jordan.

He has led his nation over more than a quarter of a century, in good times and in dangerous times, in successful times and in disappointing times, but always with a deep commitment to what's best for his own people and the preservation of stability and peace and the honoring of human rights not only in Jordan but throughout the Middle East.

He's indeed been an inspiration to many people who have served as the leaders of other nations. This is a troubled time in the history of the world, and to have a leader like him, still young, but with deep experience, reaching out his hand of friendship and peace to those neighbors of Jordan who look to him with confidence and with admiration, is reassuring to us all.

We share a great deal in common—a commitment to the integrity of international boundaries; a commitment to the unity of nations in the Middle East, to the preservation of peace, to the security of all, and to the enhancement of those principles which guide human beings and which never change. But, at the same time, he has exhibited to a remarkable degree an ability to ensure economic progress and utilization of modern science and technology to give his people a better life.

King Hussein is a good counselor and adviser for other leaders of nations who meet with him. And although sometimes our two nations do disagree on the technique for achieving a goal, we share completely a common commitment to the same goals—to the realization of the full rights of the Palestinian people, to the security of Israel and all the nations in the Middle East, to the honoring of deep religious feelings, and to the knowledge that people of good will ultimately, with courage and with perseverance, sometimes with patience, can triumph.

We have had good discussions so far today—much better than would have been expected—because of his frankness and because of his generosity, his eagerness to understand different points of view without yielding at all on the deep principles which have guided his life and which he holds so dear. We have expressed our concern about aggression demonstrated by the Soviets' invasion of Afghanistan. We've expressed our concern about international terrorism, exhibited in Iran with the unwarranted holding of innocent Americans hostage for many months, and we've expressed our commitment to stability in the Persian Gulf region and to peace in the Middle East.

I would like to say in closing that because of his own leadership and because of geographical circumstances of his own nation, Jordan will indeed play a central role in the realization of the hopes and dreams of all who want peace and stability and freedom and security in the Middle East.

At this time, I would like to propose a toast, if you will stand and join me. To Their Majesties, King Hussein and Queen Noor, to the friendship which binds our two nations and our two people together, and to the commitment to peace and the enhancement of human rights and a better life for all those of faith and good will everywhere throughout the world.

THE KING. Mr. President, Mrs. Carter, ladies and gentlemen, my good friends:

I'd like to thank you, sir, for your kind and warm words of friendship towards both Noor and I, towards a friendship that I value, towards the ties and relations that have grown between our two nations over many years, and through good and difficult times, the ties that we treasure, for the fact that there are links of people who uphold the same ideals and principles and are dedicated towards fulfilling the same objectives for a better tomorrow which, hopefully, will bring a preservation of dignity to human beings, peace, justice, and a better life.

It's true, sir, I have had the privilege of visiting the United States over many years. I'm a firm believer and have always been dedicated to the cause of friendship between our people, a better understanding, and I'm proud to have been able to serve this objective and will continue to do so to the end of my days.

Throughout these many years and many occasions, I've had the privilege of meeting with leaders of this great Nation. I said it today, and I've said it often: throughout all these meetings, none gave me more of his time to discuss the problems of our part of the world and indicated as much of an interest in the problems that we face in the area from which I came and the determination to contribute towards solutions to those problems as have your good selves.

It is true that we may have differences in approach, but we respect your dedication to the cause of peace in our part of the world. It's a dedication that we share. We look into the future with hope, with determination, to contribute our full share for the establishment of a just and durable peace in the Middle East which will affect not only those who live there but future generations there and elsewhere in the world.

We thank you for the opportunity to be with you, to have this opportunity to discuss our problems, to discuss all matters as friends, as brethren, and I'm convinced that this opportunity will enable us to address ourselves more adequately to the challenge in the times to come. We have been overwhelmed by the kindness and warmth with which we have been received once again, almost at home and amongst friends.

Thank you very much, sir, from both Noor, myself, and all who accompanied me from Jordan on this visit to the United States. May God bless you; may your efforts always meet with success in the times to come. Thank you, Mr. Carter.

Ladies and gentlemen, please, I call upon you to rise and join me in drinking a toast to the President and Mrs. Carter, to the United States, to friendship and fruitful cooperation in serving our mutual and common objectives. To peace and a better future.

THE PRESIDENT. Thank you very much.

NOTE: The President spoke at 8:08 p.m. in the State Dining Room at the White House.

Source: Federal Register Division. National Archives and Records Service, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, Jimmy Carter, 1980-1981 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1956-), pp.1125-1127

Copyright 2001, Western Standard Publishing Company. All Rights Reserved.

[Reina]

Better days...

Remarks at the State Dinner for King Hussein of Jordan and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel, July 25, 1994

ContentsWeekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, 1994 Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, 1994

Your Majesties, Prime Minister and Mrs. Rabin, all our distinguished guests: Welcome to the White House. Today we have seen history in the making. And tonight we celebrate this marvelous occasion with King Hussein and Prime Minister Rabin and to all of you who for so long have supported their efforts for peace.

It's a special pleasure for Hillary and for me to welcome Queen Noor and Mrs. Rabin who, in their devotion to the health and the well-being of the children of their nations, prove that the quest for peace is not the only cause that knows no borders.

Today's signing of the Washington Declaration is the handiwork of many. But it is safe to say we would not be here tonight were it not for the persistent and far-sighted efforts of Crown Prince Hassan, Foreign Minister Peres, and our Secretary of State, Warren Christopher. I want to express my special gratitude to Secretary Christopher, who has brought such great energy and devotion to this task, and to applaud all three gentlemen for their efforts.

The Washington Declaration is a blueprint, both inspiring and practical, a foundation for lasting peace between two peoples who have been divided for too long. It is also clearly a personal tribute to two brave leaders, both called upon at a young age to shoulder enormous responsibilities, one to be a king, the other a defender of his people, brought together now at long last in the common cause of peace.

King Hussein, tonight we recall again the legacy of your grandfather and mentor, King Abdullah, a man who dreamed that one day, on both sides of the River Jordan, Arab and Jew could live together in peace and who lost his life for that dream of peace. At the age of 17, when most of us were still in school, you were left to shoulder the great weight of leading your people.

In the 42 years that have passed, you have led your kingdom through the stormy waters of the Middle East. You have improved the lives of your people and endowed your nation with a spirit of tolerance, civility, and compromise. You've built bridges between the Arab world and the United States through your actions as an advocate for stability and through your marriage to the Queen, herself a daughter of Americans who came from the Arab world. For that, we, sir, are in your debt.

And today you have moved to erase the divisions between the people of the two sides of the River Jordan. Tonight it can truly be said that you have fulfilled the legacy of King Abdullah.

Mr. Prime Minister, tonight we honor you, a son of the land of Israel. Your parents, Nehemia and Rosa, were among the first pioneers who came to Palestine. And like so many others of their generation, they devoted their lives to building a national home for the Jewish people.

Schooled in the science of agriculture, you once planned to devote your life to making the fields and deserts of Israel come alive. But at the age of 19, you answered the call to join the Palmach, destined to spend your life fighting to establish and defend the nation of Israel.

Now, after a life consumed by a war, you have become the architect of a great peace, building a homeland your parents could only imagine, a peaceful, prosperous land at harmony with its neighbors, a land where a new generation will be free to cast aside its weapons and fulfill your dream to make the valleys and deserts bloom. Tonight we honor you and the fulfillment of your legacy, sir.

These two men have crossed much hostile territory so that their children and their children's children need fight no more. They have earned this peace, and we are all in their debt.

And so, ladies and gentlemen, I ask you to rise and join me in a toast to these men of courage, to their fine families, to the peoples of Jordan and Israel, and to the promise of peace.

Note: The President spoke at 8:36 p.m. in the State Dining Room at the White House.

Source: United States. Executive Office of the President, Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Week Ending Friday, July 29, 1994 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1995), vol. 30

Copyright 2001, Western Standard Publishing Company. All Rights Reserved.

[Reina]

Huh!

A LONG ADIEU IN JORDAN?

Perhaps it was fatigue or a touch of Arab fatalism, but Jordan's King Hussein seemed to be preparing his countrymen for the worst when he addressed them about his battle with cancer. ``The life of a vibrant nation,'' he said, ``cannot be measured by the life of any individual.'' His recent kidney surgery was thought to be a success, but he may be planning to abdicate in favor of his younger brother, Crown Prince Hassan. The departure of Hussein, 57, who has ruled for 40 years, would deal a heavy blow to the Middle East peace process. Of all Israel's neighbors, Jordan appears most eager to cut a deal. Hassan has poor relations with Palestinian Jordanians, and he may be too weak to resist hard-line pressures from fundamentalists at home and from neighboring Syria and Iraq. The word from Washington and Jerusalem: Hang on, Hussein.

Picture: King Hussein (Yousef Allan -- AP)

Copyright 1990 the U.S. News & World Report, L.P. All rights reserve

[elizahawthorne]

Originally Posted by Reina

Huh!

A LONG ADIEU IN JORDAN?

Perhaps it was fatigue or a touch of Arab fatalism, but Jordan's King Hussein seemed to be preparing his countrymen for the worst when he addressed them about his battle with cancer. ``The life of a vibrant nation,'' he said, ``cannot be measured by the life of any individual.'' His recent kidney surgery was thought to be a success, but he may be planning to abdicate in favor of his younger brother, Crown Prince Hassan. The departure of Hussein, 57, who has ruled for 40 years, would deal a heavy blow to the Middle East peace process. Of all Israel's neighbors, Jordan appears most eager to cut a deal. Hassan has poor relations with Palestinian Jordanians, and he may be too weak to resist hard-line pressures from fundamentalists at home and from neighboring Syria and Iraq. The word from Washington and Jerusalem: Hang on, Hussein.

Picture: King Hussein (Yousef Allan -- AP)

Copyright 1990 the U.S. News & World Report, L.P. All rights reserve

What did you find so surprising about the above news?

[Reina]

That he was considering abdicating. I just never knew this.

[elizahawthorne]

oh, okay. Yeah I didn't know it either until I read Leap of Faith.

-Eliza

[Reina]

EBSCO Database. But I think googling woudl be better. The 1st article is from google

[shelley]

Yes, very good job ! As you are so good at accessing back artciles I wonder if you can help me ? I have misplaced two articles I long to find again, but haven't suceeded so far. One was in a British paper, Daily Mail or Daily Express, I think, by Michael Freedland about Prince Hassan and one in Newsweek about Princess Sarvath v Queen Noor, by Scott McLeod. This was sometime in the autumn of 1998. It was complimentary to Princess Sarvath and weeks later he was trashing her. Ditto the first article. I always wondered about these and why the first ones 'vanished', which of course does not explain why I went and lost them too ! At the time I wrote to Newsweek asking why the sudden change of heart but got no acknowledgment. :(

[Reina]

I'll see what I can do

[tipper]

While searching for old pix of JRF, I came across a pic of him and Muna, dated 1969, the caption read- KH is to divorce his wife as he wishes to marry the TV announcer...- can't remember the name of the woman, but I think they were talking about Alia, was Alia a TV announcer ,back in 1969?- I always thought KHand Alia's relationship started later on, around 1971, if so, he waited for about 3 years before getting married to Alia, I wonder how did Muna talk him into delaying the divorce-:) :)