Queen Alia Information and Pictures: Part 1

[Alicky]

Originally Posted by sommone

It wasn't an occasion she skipped, it was a man who was at a hospital, and he apparently wasn't receiving the proper care, and Alia wanted to make sure that he did get the care he needed.

I was aware of that. Makes the story even more lamentable doesn't it? :(

[shelley]

Originally Posted by sommone

It wasn't an occasion she skipped, it was a man who was at a hospital, and he apparently wasn't receiving the proper care, and Alia wanted to make sure that he did get the care he needed. Despite the warning from King Hussein about the weather, Alia went anyhow. This question is directed towards anyone that may know, but did the pilot survive the plane crash?

No one survived the helicopter crash.

[sommone]

Thanks Shelley.

[Lords]

Pictures of the late Queen, from her daughter's site, can also be seen in her site.
Photos copyrights
http://www.princesshaya.net
http://www.queenalia.org/QASite_content.html

[maryshawn]

But there was a second helicopter flying with them and it landed safely--so it could have been a far greater tragedy.

Given some of the public criticism being directed at QA at the time of her death for ordering in the bulldozers to build the Haya Center, for instance, and criticism of her clothing and extravagance (sensing a common theme for Jordanian queens here?), the only thing that has ever made sense to me is that she flew off into a storm that day because she felt she had something to prove..... She was definitely uncomfortable being "royal" and preferred to live simply at home with her kids. The criticism was taking a huge toll on her. Frankly, I can't imagine getting on a helicopter when the conditions were so bad, thus, I attribute it to her by that time frantic attempts to scuttle the criticism she was getting. May explain why KH was in such a bad mood that day; he probably didn't understand why she would take that risk after he told her not to.

Originally Posted by shelley

No one survived the helicopter crash.

[sommone]

I never knew there was a second helicopter.

[maryshawn]

I didn't either till I saw a video a year ago about KH and his life and he started talking about QA and her death. Even though the interview was conducted years after her death, his voice kept breaking and he said "it was the saddest day in my life." But he also said something about the 2nd helicopter radioing a problem with the one QA was on and he raced to get there but "by the time we arrived, there was nothing to be done....all were dead." It was very heart-wrenching to hear him.

Originally Posted by sommone

I never knew there was a second helicopter.

[hilal]

Family album of Queen Alia Al Hussein from MGA: http://www.mgaproduction.com/11,264,.html
Princess Haya Bint Hussein's family album: http://www.mgaproduction.com/11,206,.html

[Banadoora]

Originally Posted by Alicky

I don't know, I'd like to think so because I really like Queen Alia, but she was having a tough time as a Queen and as the wife of Hussein. I mean, her big wish was to live anonymously somewhere with Hussein, she didn't like the high profile life, found it very stressful and was hurt by Hussein's "fondness for British nannies." Remember where they said she would cry and scream and get it all out when he left and she was alone so it wouldn't take a toll on him? She just seemed unhappy with the public life and being a royal, and King Hussein was not the best husband, especially for someone who felt as insecure as she said she did. And the public apparently was not too sympathetic and liking towards her She might have gotten too tired of it all eventually and left had she not died when she did. Pure speculation I know but possible nonetheless. :o

I think the crying and screaming that you're referring to wasn't about his being a bad husband, but rather about her feeling alone most of the time because of his work. Someone wrote about this in here a while ago. It was in a book about Arab first ladies, and in it there was a letter that Queen Alia wrote to Margaret Trudeau that she would cry and scream when he was gone because she missed him. I remember that she said that Maragaret would be the wife of a head of state only for a few years, but she was the wife of a King for life (or something to that extent).

[maryshawn]

Yes, I remember reading that quote in Margaret Trudeau's book "Beyond Reason." She advised Margaret to "wait till your husband is away and then cry, scream, rage (note: I found that a strong word; she must have been very unhappy at certain points in her life) and get everything out.....I have done that and it has helped my husband and I enormously." And she did not care for royal life and all the scrutiny so she advised Margaret to remember the part about "your husband will one day be out of office but mine is a life sentence." Oddly prophetic words in retrospect for if she had lived and she and KH had stayed together but he'd died first, she would have been a Queen but not THE Queen......Perhaps then she would have been able to live a life away from so much scrutiny......

Originally Posted by Banadoora

I think the crying and screaming that you're referring to wasn't about his being a bad husband, but rather about her feeling alone most of the time because of his work. Someone wrote about this in here a while ago. It was in a book about Arab first ladies, and in it there was a letter that Queen Alia wrote to Margaret Trudeau that she would cry and scream when he was gone because she missed him. I remember that she said that Maragaret would be the wife of a head of state only for a few years, but she was the wife of a King for life (or something to that extent).

[Humera]

I was surprised to learn that Margaret Trudeau and Q. Alia had struck up a friendship.
It seems that both women didnt have to put up with their husbands' absence for long.
Q.Alia died tragically and Margaret and Prime Minister Trudeau divorced.

[maryshawn]

In Mrs. Trudeau's book, she basically says Alia's death "made a mockery" of everything she had hoped for in her marriage and life. I don't know where that thought came from..... I think she was angry that her husband waited until they were at a formal occasion, a cocktail reception for a visiting dignitary then had an aide break the news of her friend's death when he knew beforehand. That, she said, was the ultimate defining moment--and she left him shortly thereafter. If this is as she writes, that was an unnecessarily cruel thing to do to her.

They do seem an unlikely "match" in terms of friendship but I think they saw in one another "lost souls" who hated the public attention and craved a simpler, more private life with their spouses.

[Humera]

in that way maybe those two had something in common. But otherwise Margaret seems to have been a different person. There was that incident where she was reported to have been partying with I think it was the rolling stones, or maybe some other band. I dont know much about her but she seemed to me to be more like a free spirit. Pierre Trudeau, I think, was a very different person, very intelligent, an intellectual, devoted to politics, but also very funny. Perhaps the only head of state/government to be chased after by a hoard of women as if he were bigger than the Beatles.
What I wouldnt give for Canada to have a PM like that today!
anyway...getting off-topic.
My point is. Maybe women like Alia and Margaret who prefer leading quiet lives should think twice before they marry Kings and Prime Ministers. There's no point in crying and screaming and being miserable after the fact. With men like King Hussien family doesnt always come first. Being in-charge of an entire nation is no small responsibility.

[Banadoora]

Originally Posted by ~*~Humera~*~

in that way maybe those two had something in common. But otherwise Margaret seems to have been a different person. There was that incident where she was reported to have been partying with I think it was the rolling stones, or maybe some other band. I dont know much about her but she seemed to me to be more like a free spirit. Pierre Trudeau, I think, was a very different person, very intelligent, an intellectual, devoted to politics, but also very funny. Perhaps the only head of state/government to be chased after by a hoard of women as if he were bigger than the Beatles.
What I wouldnt give for Canada to have a PM like that today!
anyway...getting off-topic.
My point is. Maybe women like Alia and Margaret who prefer leading quiet lives should think twice before they marry Kings and Prime Ministers. There's no point in crying and screaming and being miserable after the fact. With men like King Hussien family doesnt always come first. Being in-charge of an entire nation is no small responsibility.

It was the rolling stones.

You're absolutely right about Trudeau. He was very charismatic and a good PM. It would be nice to have a PM like him today, you're right.

[maryshawn]

OK. My one "off topic" sentence: I thought Trudeau was exceptionally charismatic and felt terrible when I heard of the death of one of their sons and then his death.

Back on point. I think the point you make about thinking carefully before marrying the monarch of a country is a good one, Humera. I don't think QA thought this one through too well. It seems KH kind of swept her off her feet and got divorced and then married her a few days later. I think she "loved" him but didn't really consider what life would be like as his Queen. Margaret Trudeau was similarly--"impulsive?" Perhaps that isn't quite the right word but something along those lines; she didn't think it through either. And, in one another, they found people who shared their angst about the public, their positions, the fact their husbands had to work so hard and not devote time to creating a "storybook" marriage,...... QA and Margaret were romantics who became embittered when they ran up against the day to day pragmatic elements of their respective lives. Yes, spending any time you have away from your husband wailing and raging is hardly the way to live.....

Originally Posted by Banadoora

It was the rolling stones.

You're absolutely right about Trudeau. He was very charismatic and a good PM. It would be nice to have a PM like him today, you're right.

[maryshawn]

I just had another look at QA's site and it appears to have been updated with some new information. The crash which took the Queen's life occured within five minutes of landing and was attributed to "horrific weather and possible pilot error." I hadn't realized they were so close to Amman, nor that pilot error was ever raised as a contributing factor.

[maryshawn]

I just re-read this, Humera, and went back and read Margaret Trudeau's book. She infers QA was eager to have a life like Margaret's in that she did go on those trips with celebrities. She quotes QA as saying she would love to "move to London and decorate her home in French provincial furniture--"far different than the taste lacking in my current home"--and "join the jet set." I think it must be difficult for young women to "choose" a royal life they were not raised to be part of and know well--and then find out its not all glamour and haute couture and hobnobbing with rock stars. Being a Queen, in particular, though I know other family members work hard, is grueling work. How did Princess Diana put it? "90% is sheer slog; 10% is fantastic." I look at the schedule of Queen Rania recently as an example. I don't envy the hours she's putting in: Pakistan trying to comfort so many, then off to Mecca, then back to help the poor in Jordan--all within days. Queen Alia, bless her, just seemed to be railing against all of the demands of royal life. She wanted to be at home with her husband and kids or apparently off rubbing elbows with the social elite. I don't think she was a slacker. She certainly did many very wonderful things as Queen--but it also doesn't seem she was loving the life she was leading all that much.

Originally Posted by ~*~Humera~*~

in that way maybe those two had something in common. But otherwise Margaret seems to have been a different person. There was that incident where she was reported to have been partying with I think it was the rolling stones, or maybe some other band. I dont know much about her but she seemed to me to be more like a free spirit. Pierre Trudeau, I think, was a very different person, very intelligent, an intellectual, devoted to politics, but also very funny. Perhaps the only head of state/government to be chased after by a hoard of women as if he were bigger than the Beatles.
What I wouldnt give for Canada to have a PM like that today!
anyway...getting off-topic.
My point is. Maybe women like Alia and Margaret who prefer leading quiet lives should think twice before they marry Kings and Prime Ministers. There's no point in crying and screaming and being miserable after the fact. With men like King Hussien family doesnt always come first. Being in-charge of an entire nation is no small responsibility.

[Savita]

Does anyone know what steps Queen Alia took to prevent honour killings in Jordan?

[maryshawn]

Good question, Savita! I'm really not sure but will look around to see if I can find an answer if she addressed this topic while Queen. If anyone else knows, I, too, would be interested in hearing more about this.