King Hussein and his wives - Page 2

shelley · #21 09-04-2004, 02:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sommone

Wow...I hadn't heard that many details of the affair he suppose to have had. If he was going to divorce Noor to marry someone else, and unfortunately she isn't one of my favorite people, then I feel sorry for her...even she doesn't deserve to be treated that way. I wonder why he just couldn't be happy be with one woman without having to continue to divorce over and over...In Alia's case, she died too soon...Makes me wonder if she would have been eventually kicked to the curb like the others before her? So, his illness kept him from divorcing Noor to move on to someone else?

That is the general impression amongst those that were close to the royal couple but your timing is wrong. The journalist affair was before he fell ill for the first time.

sommone · #22 09-04-2004, 04:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shelley

That is the general impression amongst those that were close to the royal couple but your timing is wrong. The journalist affair was before he fell ill for the first time.

Oh, thanks for the correction...I assumed she was talking about the final time he got sick.

maryshawn · #23 09-06-2004, 02:18 PM

Well, it was in 1991 or so. The King was in Jordan and the Queen was in NYC and London, supposedly caring for a nephew and undergoing a breast biopsy which proved benign. But it was also said she was very angry and during the Holidays, they met to decide "in or out." I guess they decided to stay together but what really cemented that decision seems to be the first bout with cancer when she stayed with him and helped nurse him. After that, they were "inseperable." One journalist said seeing them together, you thought "here is the kind of love we all want just once in our lifetime."

The thing I don't understand is 1991 is about the time of the Gulf War and QN was a tireless advocate for Jordan w/the US and rest of world and worked very hard to provide some relief for the comfort of the refugees........Why would KH decide to cheat on a woman who was such an asset to him and his country? And I'm the first to admit I don't understand the way the male mind works!

papillon · #24 09-06-2004, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maryshawn

Why would KH decide to cheat on a woman who was such an asset to him and his country? And I'm the first to admit I don't understand the way the male mind works!

Men cheat for all kinds of reasons. Many of those reasons have nothing to do with the partner. In the immortal words of the heart patient/former American President, "I cheated because I could."

KH didn't have a great track record entering into marriage #4 with QN. . .why would anyone think this would change him?

shelley · #25 09-06-2004, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maryshawn

Why would KH decide to cheat on a woman who was such an asset to him and his country? And I'm the first to admit I don't understand the way the male mind works!

Maybe he knew more than anyone else how much of her public image was 'spin' and how much time she was actually out of the country, which she was. Maybe because their relationship was not what it was, but whatever the reason. Lots of maybes but one given was that he just was not monogamous......before, during or after any marriage. :(

papillon · #26 09-06-2004, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shelley

Lots of maybes but one given was that he just was not monogamous......before, during or after any marriage. :(

Which supports one of my theories of predicting human behavior. . .that is, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. When someone shows you who he is, believe him the first time (have to attribute that wisdom to Dr. Maya Angelou). Really, you can spare yourself a whole lot of pain in life by mastering that lesson.

(Spoken like someone who's still trying.)

I think QN was just entirely naive to assume she might be able to reform her man in that way. So, if anything, given that she was wife #4, it was rather incumbent upon her either to look the other way or to adopt a more European attitude about fidelity.

shelley · #27 09-07-2004, 02:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by papillon

So, if anything, given that she was wife #4, it was rather incumbent upon her either to look the other way or to adopt a more European attitude about fidelity.

Not entirely fair, Papillion - I don't think one can generalise about attitudes based on ethnic groupings. I think it is individual on the whole, I mean whether they believe in fidelity. Of course there are some cultures where things are more relaxed - ie some of the South Sea Islands, Brazil, and some countries where the keeping of concubines is still an accepted practice. I mean, even within the JRF - you have P. Hassan, P. Raad, P. Ali bin Nayef, all first cousins, all by most accounts faithful husbands, and you have K. Hussein who didn't know what the word meant ! But they were all basically the same mix of Arab/Turkish......:p

papillon · #28 09-07-2004, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shelley

Not entirely fair, Papillion - I don't think one can generalise about attitudes based on ethnic groupings.

Sorry, I didn't mean this as an ethnic smear. Just that QN's particular choice of a spouse was a high risk one if she expected fidelity. Even at 26, she really should've been more aware of and realistic about that.

shelley · #29 09-07-2004, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by papillon

Sorry, I didn't mean this as an ethnic smear. Just that QN's particular choice of a spouse was a high risk one if she expected fidelity. Even at 26, she really should've been more aware of and realistic about that.

I am sure you didn't mean it to sound like an ethnic smear as you obviously know and love Jordan, but someone less informed might have picked up the wrong message . :p But you are so-oo right about a high risk spouse - at any age, who would willingly be anyone's fourth wife !!? :(

maryshawn · #30 09-07-2004, 10:54 PM

Her own father--a close friend of the King--warned her about him. Her parents were not exactly throwing a party because she chose to marry him and she admits it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by papillon

Sorry, I didn't mean this as an ethnic smear. Just that QN's particular choice of a spouse was a high risk one if she expected fidelity. Even at 26, she really should've been more aware of and realistic about that.

And, if she had read Roland Dallas' flattering bio of KH, he said very clearly even his beloved Alia "suffered from the King's fondness for British nannies....." Good thing Viagra wasn't introduced earlier in his life......

Ipi Tombe · #31 09-07-2004, 11:18 PM

didn't they only date for like 2 months before he popped the question? so maybe she was slightly naive to the reality of his tendencies?

Quote:

Originally Posted by maryshawn

Her own father--a close friend of the King--warned her about him. Her parents were not exactly throwing a party because she chose to marry him and she admits it.

papillon · #32 09-08-2004, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ipi Tombe

didn't they only date for like 2 months before he popped the question? so maybe she was slightly naive to the reality of his tendencies?

Oh, but I think you exaggerate by about 33%. I think it was more like six weeks.

Banadoora · #33 09-10-2004, 02:17 AM

maryshawn, I thought that I'd heard all about the supposed "affair". I'd very much like to know where you got all of this information from.

tipper · #34 09-10-2004, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shelley

That is the general impression amongst those that were close to the royal couple but your timing is wrong. The journalist affair was before he fell ill for the first time.

Actually, he fell in love, Noor fled to UK, she was very hurt, she was the one who thought about a divorce, ppl in Jordan talked about it and sided wiith QN, a taxist even said- The King is far too old to get divorced again- from G. Brooks' book- Nine parts of desire- and soon after KH fell ill, that was in '92, of course, Noor soon got back home to stay with him- I think the woman's name was Rana- QN says something about her own stay in UK at the time, in her bio.

maryshawn · #35 09-14-2004, 11:39 PM

Roland Dallas, a very credible journalist and fan of Hussein, wrote about it in "King Hussein." The video "Queen Noor: Between 2 Realms" has several credible friends and journalists talking about it. Lesley Bennets wrote about it in her profile of Noor in Vanity Fair after KH's death and QN mentions the difficulties--do we fire her and give credence? what do we do?--in her book. There was also an official news release released by the Jordanian embassy in the US and the palace in Jordan regarding it--tho' I've not seen it, QN mentions this was done and so does Mr. Dallas.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Banadoora

maryshawn, I thought that I'd heard all about the supposed "affair". I'd very much like to know where you got all of this information from.

maryshawn · #36 09-14-2004, 11:43 PM

It had to have hurt deeply. Here is this beautiful 41 year old woman who has just done so much on behalf of Jordan in terms of stating its position to the world and helping restart US-Jordan relations with a reconciliation and then she gets the news he's met the mother, considering divorce to marry a 20-something....and she said in her book "given the strained relationship (he was depressed and not very communicative) she gave it some real consideration as what he wanted."

sommone · #37 09-15-2004, 01:37 AM

Poor Noor. I couldn't imagine what that must have been like for her to have to go through that, but she stuck by him to the end...So, did he have affairs while married to the other three?

Banadoora · #38 09-15-2004, 04:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maryshawn

Roland Dallas, a very credible journalist and fan of Hussein, wrote about it in "King Hussein." The video "Queen Noor: Between 2 Realms" has several credible friends and journalists talking about it. Lesley Bennets wrote about it in her profile of Noor in Vanity Fair after KH's death and QN mentions the difficulties--do we fire her and give credence? what do we do?--in her book. There was also an official news release released by the Jordanian embassy in the US and the palace in Jordan regarding it--tho' I've not seen it, QN mentions this was done and so does Mr. Dallas.

So what do we make of Queen Noor's officially denying the affair in her book?

bubbles · #39 09-15-2004, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Banadoora

So what do we make of Queen Noor's officially denying the affair in her book?

its obvious that QN was very hurt by what happened to her. she probably was also ashamed which is why she denied it. this whole issue about his affair is very personal matter and she probably didn't want to discuss it.....which is why she denied it.

maryshawn · #40 09-18-2004, 09:44 PM

Well, he didn't like his first wife (arranged marriage) so he probably did.

I think he and Princess Muna were in love but then they lived separate lives--she had her circle and he had so many things to worry about in the country so that likely led to at least one affair of the heart--Queen Alia, who he married the day after his divorce...... But Roland Dallas' book is quite clear even Alia suffered "because of the King's predilection for British nannies."

I think QN should've listened to her first instinct which was "I didn't want to be anyone's 4th wife."