Was Princess Muna British, and was she a queen too? Was she KH's 1st wife? If it was legal for him to have 4 wives at the same time, would that not have been easier than the multiple divorces?
King Hussain's frist marriage was arranged by his parents when he was just 17 or 18 I think. He married his distant cousin who was also a princess--princess Dina. They had one daughter princess Alia and then shortly after her birth divorced since they were both too young when they got married.
His second marriage was much later and he married a British woman by the name of Antionette Gardner--later given the name Princess Muna. She never became queen b/c she wasn't Arabic. They divorced after several years of marriage and after having 4 kids, King Abdullah, Princess Faisal and the twins princesses Aisha and Zain.
His third wife died--the beautiful Queen Alia and he later married Queen Noor aka Lisa Halaby. They adopted Abeer and had princess Haya and Ali. The queen died when Ali was around 2 years old.
The king was a modern man and didn't believe in multiple marriages.
King Hussain's frist marriage was arranged by his parents when he was just 17 or 18 I think. He married his distant cousin who was also a princess--princess Dina. They had one daughter princess Alia and then shortly after her birth divorced since they were both too young when they got married.
She was actually only a Sharifa, not a princess (a title given to female descendants of the prophet within the extended Hashemite family). Sharif Dina Abdul Hamid was her name. She later married a gent named Assad and is currently residing in Egypt (IIRC). Anyway, she was a few years older than the King.
Quote:
His second marriage was much later and he married a British woman by the name of Antionette Gardner--later given the name Princess Muna. She never became queen b/c she wasn't Arabic. They divorced after several years of marriage and after having 4 kids, King Abdullah, Princess Faisal and the twins princesses Aisha and Zain.
IMO, it wasn't that she wasn't Arab per se. It had more to do with her being British and it was more of a a timing. Remeber, this was the era of post-colonialism, Nasserism,Arab nationalism, the Arab Israeli conflict (many Arabs blamed the British for the Balfour decleration), nationalization of the Suez, the 1956 war against Egypt (Britain, France & Israel against Egypt), etc. Thus a British "Malika" would have offended Arab sensibilities.
Quote:
The king was a modern man and didn't believe in multiple marriages.
AMMAN, JORDAN: Princess Mona Al-Hussein, mother of Jordan's king Abdullah II, and French ambassador to Jordan Jean-Michel Casa inaugurate an exhibition in Amman late 15 December 2004, to mark the 40th anniversary of King Hussein and Princess Mona's state visit to France, in 1964, when they were received by president Charles de Gaulle. The exhibition presents photos of the visit, as well as dresses worn by Princess Mona and a reconstitution of the table where the royal couple had dinner at the Elysee palace.
AMMAN, JORDAN: Princess Mona Al-Hussein, mother of Jordan's king Abdullah II, and French ambassador to Jordan Jean-Michel Casa inaugurate an exhibition in Amman late 15 December 2004, to mark the 40th anniversary of King Hussein and Princess Mona's state visit to France, in 1964, when they were received by president Charles de Gaulle. The exhibition presents photos of the visit, as well as dresses worn by Princess Mona and a reconstitution of the table where the royal couple had dinner at the Elysee palace.
I'm glad she's finally beginnning to get some of the spotlight. A great injustice was done to her by K. Hussein: when he did not name her "Queen" after their marraige and when he divorced her without cause to marry Q. Alia. P. Muna remained fatihfully in the background caring for her children, and even stepping in to care for Q. Alia's children after she died. She also had to endure the Q. Noor years; and the slight from Q. Zein that her son KA, was not good enough to be king because he was half-English. These are terrible things to endure but she did so gracefully and without a fuss. It's her time now, let her enjoy it.
AMMAN (Petra) — HRH Princess Muna celebrates her birthday today. With a strong personal interest in issues of health and social welfare, Princess Muna has spent a good part of her life contributing to community welfare programmes and benefit campaigns for the needy, orphaned and the disabled.
Today she stands at the helm of the nursing and midwifery sector in Jordan.
Born Toni Gardiner in the UK, Princess Muna first settled in Jordan in 1960 with her father army Lt. Col. Walter Percy Gardiner and his wife Doris.
She was married to His Majesty the late King Hussein in 1961. The couple had four children: His Majesty King Abdullah and Their Royal Highnesses Prince Faisal, Princess Zein and Princess Aisha.
The Princess has devoted much of her energies in establishing a solid foundation for healthcare in the Kingdom, steering national endeavours to upgrade nursing and midwifery standards.
That role began with the establishment of the Princess Muna College of Nursing in 1962.
Having worked to affiliate the Princess Muna College of Nursing with the University of Muta in 1988, the Princess offered a model for other universities to follow.
Today, eight nursing colleges exist in universities around the country, with 45 people now holding PhDs in the field of nursing.
Princess Muna has repeatedly underlined the need to begin research in nursing and training to upgrade medical services.
She attributed the shortage of nurses to a lack of training programmes designed according to international criteria.
The Princess is also honorary adviser to the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Nursing Development and also patron of WHO Nursing and Midwifery in the Middle East and Mediterranean, which has 22 member countries.
The Princess is the president of the Nursing Council, which is entrusted with creating and implementing national health strategies relating to nursing, while upgrading and regulating the profession.
Lovely pics of Princess Muna, she is so elegant and excellent choice of clothes. King Abdullah should conider making her Queen Mother.
Don't mean to offend but the Jordanian Constitution will not allow it. This was (if I'm correct) due to Queen Zein , placing a condition that those whom hold Monarchial titles within Jordan must be Arab.:)
nicole
Linear Mode
