Queen Alia's words to Princess Haya

[sommone]

Originally Posted by papillon

Well, I'm sure it is nice to be P. Hamzah and P. Haya! At least they get to live with the certainty that they were loved and cherished above all the others.

But I really hope the next generation of royals has less complicated love lives and/or fewer children, the latter especially if they are not good at parenting. The bad parenting gene runs in vicious cycles within families. This is borne out in empirical studies. . .it'd be a shame if each of KH's offspring has as many children as he had (unless they get therapy. . .could probably get group rates or a quantity discount on that :) ).

I hope they all know that their father loved them. I hope at some point he took the time out to relay that message to them every chance he got.

[maryshawn]

In an article written in 1988, QN said she felt it was important for ALL the children to go to places to be educated where they were not the "sons and daughters of a King." Her children were shipped off to boarding schools too. Noor, herself, is a product of boarding school from jr. high on--and I think KH went to an English school (Harrow?)..........

I am not going to criticize their decisions to send the children abroad for schooling. Pity the poor teacher who sits down at teacher-royal parent conferences and says "Hamzah isn't very good with his studies...." Or reprimanding the kids: "Your Royal Highness, please don't graffitti the walls of the classroom....." Yes, this is irony. But I do understand the pressures of getting those kids into schools where they are not considered "above" the rest of the kids.

Having said all this, I think an exception may have been made for Abir, Haya and Ali. I think they should have been with their father as much as possible and grown up in a stable home. Losing a mother so young and losing their father, first to his grief and then to a look-alike Alia, had to be so hard.

Questions, comments, protests?

[Ipi Tombe]

i think it is a shame that QA died so young but with regards to the contast well spring of pity targeted at Abir, Haya and Ali post KH's death, now that has to stop. the children were grown by then and this is the natural cycle of life. (they might not teach that in posh boarding schools but in public school i was taugh the cycle of life naturally results in death.) also KH's death wasn't sudden-they knew it was coming. i'm sorry they lost their mother so young but the constant emoting regarding KH is a little overworked if you ask me. (i am not being a hard a$$ (i lost most of my family before i turned 21) but i am a realist.)

these kids seem to have a hard go at life. but i think what they have been threw is not that dissimilar than what many of us have experienced. the difference is that we naturally equate 'royalty' with 'fairytale' not 'reality'.

Originally Posted by maryshawn

In an article written in 1988, QN said she felt it was important for ALL the children to go to places to be educated where they were not the "sons and daughters of a King." Her children were shipped off to boarding schools too. Noor, herself, is a product of boarding school from jr. high on--and I think KH went to an English school (Harrow?)..........

I am not going to criticize their decisions to send the children abroad for schooling. Pity the poor teacher who sits down at teacher-royal parent conferences and says "Hamzah isn't very good with his studies...." Or reprimanding the kids: "Your Royal Highness, please don't graffitti the walls of the classroom....." Yes, this is irony. But I do understand the pressures of getting those kids into schools where they are not considered "above" the rest of the kids.

Having said all this, I think an exception may have been made for Abir, Haya and Ali. I think they should have been with their father as much as possible and grown up in a stable home. Losing a mother so young and losing their father, first to his grief and then to a look-alike Alia, had to be so hard.

Questions, comments, protests?

[papillon]

Originally Posted by Ipi Tombe

these kids seem to have a hard go at life. but i think what they have been threw is not that dissimilar than what many of us have experienced.

It's true. . .these events happen (sadly) all too routinely to people, and most have nowhere near the resources to deal with them as did/do KH, QA, QN, and their children.

One of the things that tugs at me, though, with respect to P. Haya, P. Ali, and Abeer is that KH's extended family was willing to pitch in, step up to the plate, take on additional responsibility when they really didn't have to in order to ensure that these children got their fair share of nurturing. But, for some reason, they were farmed out to boarding schools, where it would be almost guaranteed they wouldn't receive nurturing. Don't know about Abeer, but the other two seem to still be paying the price of that decision in their adulthoods.

Still, now that they are adults, they need to make the best of their circumstances and take responsibility for their own choices. I'm feeling hopeful for P. Ali, but P. Haya???!!! Not so confident about her prospects for a happier life.

[bluetortuga]

We all may be surprised. Maybe P. Haya enjoys being married to an old geezer like Sheikh Mo.

[Ipi Tombe]

my own pessmistic predictions for dear haya is she is going to face a similar fate as christina onassis. rich, spoiled, bored, lonely, dead.

alot of similarities between these two.

Originally Posted by papillon

It's true. . .these events happen (sadly) all too routinely to people, and most have nowhere near the resources to deal with them as did/do KH, QA, QN, and their children.

One of the things that tugs at me, though, with respect to P. Haya, P. Ali, and Abeer is that KH's extended family was willing to pitch in, step up to the plate, take on additional responsibility when they really didn't have to in order to ensure that these children got their fair share of nurturing. But, for some reason, they were farmed out to boarding schools, where it would be almost guaranteed they wouldn't receive nurturing. Don't know about Abeer, but the other two seem to still be paying the price of that decision in their adulthoods.

Still, now that they are adults, they need to make the best of their circumstances and take responsibility for their own choices. I'm feeling hopeful for P. Ali, but P. Haya???!!! Not so confident about her prospects for a happier life.

[papillon]

Originally Posted by bluetortuga

We all may be surprised. Maybe P. Haya enjoys being married to an old geezer like Sheikh Mo.

Maybe. But, at the moment, she looks pretty miserable. :(

[shelley]

Originally Posted by maryshawn

Questions, comments, protests?

Except that Q. Noor's children did not go to boarding school till they were 13 or so. Iman left Jordan earlier but that was her choice as she was particularly close to her aunt, Noor's sister, so she chose at about 11 to go and live with her and her family. All the older children went off much earlier, to what in England is called 'prep' school, at about 8 or 9 years of age. But I think the late King could also have put his foot down. He himself did not go to boarding school in England until he was sixteen. :(

[shelley]

Originally Posted by Ipi Tombe

my own pessmistic predictions for dear haya is she is going to face a similar fate as christina onassis. rich, spoiled, bored, lonely, dead.

alot of similarities between these two.

Please God, no. That would be too awful, whatever mistakes you may think she has made in her life, or whatever character faults she may ior may not have. Most people are victims of their upbringing ( no spoilt children, only spolit parents ) and she certainly is. That may not make her a nice person, but lets not wish her dead. :(

[Ipi Tombe]

so you are saying that all the whining about ali and haya being booted off to prep school/boarding school/whatever is pretty irrelevant since ALL of KH's kids were shipped off. mommy or no mommy?

you say that when the kids came home from school for the holidays the only people at home were nannies-maybe this was their choice.

just hear me out....

the kids went to english boarding school. QN & KH had quite a lovely house in england as does most arab royalty. maybe the kids left school, went to see daddy and stepmommy at their english country house and then decided that they wanted to go home to jordan to see their friends/relatives-what have you and traveled to jordan on their own to see these folks instead of hanging out at the farm with mom & dad?

[Ipi Tombe]

i don't wish her dead...in a million years....all i'm saying is that she seems to demonstrate a similar attitude and decision making process as c.onassis. -very short sighted- i keep hoping this girl pulls her head out of whatever hole it has been in lately and starts taking charge of her life but as the days progress it seems she steps further down that hole day after day....

i would stand up and cheer if she demonstrated one ounce of the independance she is so famed for.

for goodness sakes...she could at least not quit showjumping....but she seems to have tossed that away also.

Originally Posted by shelley

Please God, no. That would be too awful, whatever mistakes you may think she has made in her life, or whatever character faults she may ior may not have. Most people are victims of their upbringing ( no spoilt children, only spolit parents ) and she certainly is. That may not make her a nice person, but lets not wish her dead. :(

[maryshawn]

Good points all and of course you don't wish to see her dead.....god, I hope she doesn't end up like Cristina Onassis! I wish she would come to her senses and spend lots of time in Jordan helping promote the causes dear to her parents. I know I keep saying this--but a book she keeps promising might be nice too. She did not turn out--yet--as I thought she was going to.....but she is young and still can turn her life around to be meaningful and enjoyable. That grim look on her face is so disturbing.......

[shelley]

Originally Posted by Ipi Tombe

maybe the kids left school, went to see daddy and stepmommy at their english country house and then decided that they wanted to go home to jordan to see their friends/relatives-what have you and traveled to jordan on their own to see these folks instead of hanging out at the farm with mom & dad?

Maybe, but whatever the case, I still think that anything under 11/12 is way too young to go off to boarding school, unless there is a darned good reason. That is just my opinion. However, the Brits. built a whole empire on doing just that :( .

[maryshawn]

Shelley, I couldn't agree more.....I can't imagine sending a child off at that age; I stayed in the same city as my family for college for goodness sake! But, yes, the Brits have the art of sending kids to boarding schools down to an art form......and Americans (wealthy ones) do too. My father in law was shipped off to Andover, my mother was shipped off to a girl's school in Duluth, MN so the nuns could train her, Noor went to a few and so did Caroline and John Kennedy......those come to mind first. My ex husband went to boarding school and hated it. He was forever trying to come home and he was in high school. It caused a lack of closeness w/his parents I don't think he and his brother (who also was sent) will ever overcome. Interestingly enough, the youngest was not sent to boarding school and he has a very, very close relationship with his parents, is a trusting, nice person and certainly has much more emotional stability than his brothers. It depends on the person but boarding school is not my first choice--for anyone. I loved coming home at night and seeing my parents--even in high school!

[Raven Skies]

Could someone clarify something? Was Queen Alia 3-months pregnant at the time of the helicopter crash that killed her?

Raven

[sommone]

Originally Posted by Raven Skies

Could someone clarify something? Was Queen Alia 3-months pregnant at the time of the helicopter crash that killed her?

Raven

First time I have heard of this one...

[maryshawn]

I have never heard that....and in letters and calls made shortly before her death she never said anything about it--I would think someone would've said something by now had she mentioned it. But anything is possible....After what happened to QA, I see photos of QN and Rania in helicopters and wonder if they ever think about their safety. But they write and talk about how much "fun" it is to dive in them and ride wildly about......I think it's just irresponsible.