Queen Alia Information and Pictures: Part 1

[Jackswife]

She was certainly very beautiful and popular with the Jordanian people. Seeing pictures of her always makes me a little sad, and I sometimes wonder if she had lived, how things would have turned out for her. I'm also an admirer of Queen Noor, so I know that "what if?" would have meant no QN, but still I do wonder about what may have been.:( BTW Abir's father was Jordanian, so I'm not sure what (if any) Palestinian connection there was (is).

[maryshawn]

Thank you; I didn't know that he was Jordanian; I only knew an airliner had crashed and QA had read about this little girl--Abir--who was found in her dead mother's arms. Princess Haya once wrote about QA's dedication to nursing Abir back to health. Abir slept in their room and QA was with her night and day. When asked while she was pregnant with Haya if she and KH were excited about their "first" baby, she said "this will be our second as Abir is our first daughter." Abir and Haya and Ali certainly bonded together after QA's death and Haya wrote "Abir reminded us all of our mother and we both watched over Ali. She was wonderful, despite the fact this was her 2nd loss of a parent at a young age." The last thing Alia did before leaving was see Ali take his first steps; she was very happy and said "my wonderful Ali, you are walking on your own; now that I have seen that I can leave you now." Kind of chilling, isn't it in hindsight?

[shelley]

Originally Posted by maryshawn

The last thing Alia did before leaving was see Ali take his first steps; she was very happy and said "my wonderful Ali, you are walking on your own; now that I have seen that I can leave you now." Kind of chilling, isn't it in hindsight?

I am not doubting this, but I am curious as to who was the source for this snippet ? The king was not there when Queen Alia took off on her doomed flight,and the nanny was killed shortly after her. I am sure that there were not many people around or else they would have surely tried to prevent her from going .

[shelley]

Originally Posted by Jackswife

BTW Abir's father was Jordanian, so I'm not sure what (if any) Palestinian connection there was (is).

Abir Muhseian's father was a Jordanian/Palestinian. He was a driver in the army, maybe even in the royal palaces, I am not sure. I believe an attempt was made for him to keep seeing Abir in the beginning but as she got older, the poor girl could not cope with the huge contrasts between her real and adopted family, and so the contact eventually ceased.

[maryshawn]

It is from Haya and Abir and was quoted on Haya's Team Harmony thread when it was running. It has been "under construction" for awhile now unfortunately. Yes, Haya was young when her mother died and Abir a bit older but Abir recalls this conversation quite vividly. You always wonder--or I do--about revisionism; it's what they recall her saying.

Thank you for clarifying the nanny issue.....I'd read somewhere the children experienced the loss of their mother than nanny in a very short period of time. I didn't know if the nanny had left or what.

Oh, yes, KH was not there but called QA--and this is from a paperback on KH--to say her plans for the day should be cancelled as his favorite pilot, the one who flew her helicopter that day, had contacted him saying the weather conditions were not good for flying. She obviously didn't heed the advice and decided to go anyway. And both the pilot and QA died on the return trip.

Originally Posted by shelley

I am not doubting this, but I am curious as to who was the source for this snippet ? The king was not there when Queen Alia took off on her doomed flight,and the nanny was killed shortly after her. I am sure that there were not many people around or else they would have surely tried to prevent her from going .

[Jackswife]

Yes, Alia was very careful that Abir should receive equal treatment alongside the other children, and that was very admirable. She was always it seems, first and foremost a wife and mother, and then Queen.:)

[shelley]

[QUOTE=maryshawn]It is from Haya and Abir and was quoted on Haya's Team Harmony thread when it was running. It has been "under construction" for awhile now unfortunately. Yes, Haya was young when her mother died and Abir a bit older but Abir recalls this conversation quite vividly. You always wonder--or I do--about revisionism; it's what they recall her saying.

QUOTE]

As I often cannot remember what I had for breakfast yesterday, I am quite impressed at their memory. Haya was not yet three when her mother died and Abir would have been four something. I still feel they must be quoting someone, and without sounding cynical about a tragically premature death, there are always people who will have incredibily accurate and selective memories about what are said by people ' just before....'.

[suria]

Originally Posted by rubaa

A
On the contrary Alia was loved by both Jordaniens and Palestiniens because she was a good queen and because she was a Jordanien of palestinien origins ,as is the case of all families in Jordan you cant find a purely jordanien family or a purely palestinien family .the families are mixed here ,and prince Ali is loved in Jordan for his bio Jordanien-Palestinien roots ,it is an asset for him.

yes , i agree with you , and most of us (Jordanian with Palestinian origin) loves Ali , and feel that he has been mistreated because of this too

[maryshawn]

I know what you are saying, Shelley, re: Haya/Abir's recollection of QA. And perhaps it was fed to them. I know my 9 year old recalls things which happened when she was 4 or 5 which she has occasionally brought up long after I'd forgotten them. Bottom line, I'm glad they "remember" QA well.

I agree with the fact QA seemed to put family first; being Queen second; I think it shows good values. I don't think she led the easiest life. Her comments to Margaret Trudeau (documented in her book) and Jehan Sadat (in her autobiography) make it clear she loved her family very much but craved a simpler, anonymous life far away from Jordan. She talks about a house in London with simple furniture and worries about what she felt was increasing animosity toward her in Jordan. When you read comments taken from a letter she wrote shortly before her death--"I know I have produced a Crown Prince and that is something......" and then goes on to worry some of her actions have raised the ire of her husband and other officials.....well, if the fact she gave birth to Ali was the only thing she felt was of significance to those around her, it's really rather sad.

Roland Dallas, the highly sympathetic biographer of KH, writes Alia "suffered as a result of the King's fondness for British nannies." That, too, is sad. They were only married from 1972-1977--and he was out seeking affection or whatever you want to call it from others right there in the royal household. That's got to grate at one's self-esteem.

Her concern about her country's feelings toward her may very well have been the reason she felt the need to ignore the warnings and fly off to the hospital that day. Perhaps she felt she couldn't afford to let anyone down at that point. She was also a person who always gravitated toward people who needed help, according to her brother.

I wish more was known about Alia as one has to glean things from the little things written about her in other peoples' autobiographies or rely on the questionable recollections of her young children.

I'd read her father had died; are any of her siblings still around? I wonder how much contact they have--if any--with her children.

[maryshawn]

I really don't understand the "need" for the name change:

AMMAN (J.T.) — HRH Princess Basma Sunday called for intensifying the development efforts and activities of the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development.

The Princess, addressing a meeting attended by fund employees and heads of social development centres from various governorates, spoke about the change of the fund's name from the Queen Alia Fund for Social Development (QAF) to the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development.

The fund's new name, she said, embodies the noble message of the Hashemites pursued by the late King Hussein and initiated by the Kingdom's founder, the late King Abdullah and the late King Talal and the Hashemite queens, who endeavoured to serve all Jordanians.

Princess Basma said the Hashemite message has been passed on to His Majesty King Abdullah, who now leads the march as the head of the Hashemite family and shoulders the responsibilities for the country.

Princess Basma said King Hussein was a source of inspiration in major achievements accomplished in many fields.

She said King Hussein was a supporter of the fund and was behind the fund's main achievements in development, adding that the late King was always keen to know about the public services offered by the fund and always provided directives for future plans.

The late King Hussein envisaged social work as the most effective way to improve the living condition of individuals and local communities, added Princess Basma.

Believing in the right of all citizens to a decent living, the King was behind initiatives in this concern and supported them with all his might, according to Princess Basma.

Inspired by the late King's spirit and thoughts, in respect of the march he led to achieve progress and prosperity for Jordan and in commitment to his eternal message which is now borne by King Abdullah, the fund will exert all efforts to uphold the King Hussein's motto, “The citizens are our most precious asset.” The fund pledges to adopt this logo as an incentive to attain its meaning. The new name of the fund, The Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development, has been chosen to underline the translation of his message to facts on the ground.

In memory of the late Queen Alia, who passed away in the line of duty to the Kingdom, Princess Basma said the fund's social development centre in Tafileh will be named after Queen Alia and be known from now on by the name of “The Queen Alia Centre for Social Development” and the Hashemite competition will be changed to “The Queen Alia Competition for Voluntary Social Work.”

[Reina]

Originally Posted by maryshawn

Roland Dallas, the highly sympathetic biographer of KH, writes Alia "suffered as a result of the King's fondness for British nannies." That, too, is sad. They were only married from 1972-1977--and he was out seeking affection or whatever you want to call it from others right there in the royal household. That's got to grate at one's self-esteem.

Well. I guess what goes around coms around.

But do you think the name change has something to do with the fact tha QA did break up the current king's mother's marriage? But it is something that she and everyone else at that time was expeting ALi to be king. Myhow things change.

I wonder why ppl were mad at her?

[Jackswife]

I would hope that King Abdullah (or even Princess Muna, for that matter) would not hold a grudge against QA. I'm sure it was a very, very difficult situation for all involved, but I would hope that there is another reason for the name change, and not because of what happened between Hussein, Alia, and Muna.:(

[sommone]

It would be really, really petty to change the name because of this...and if so, why now?

[suria]

Originally Posted by maryshawn

I know what you are saying, Shelley, re: Haya/Abir's recollection of QA. And perhaps it was fed to them. I know my 9 year old recalls things which happened when she was 4 or 5 which she has occasionally brought up long after I'd forgotten them. Bottom line, I'm glad they "remember" QA well.

I agree with the fact QA seemed to put family first; being Queen second; I think it shows good values. I don't think she led the easiest life. Her comments to Margaret Trudeau (documented in her book) and Jehan Sadat (in her autobiography) make it clear she loved her family very much but craved a simpler, anonymous life far away from Jordan. She talks about a house in London with simple furniture and worries about what she felt was increasing animosity toward her in Jordan. When you read comments taken from a letter she wrote shortly before her death--"I know I have produced a Crown Prince and that is something......" and then goes on to worry some of her actions have raised the ire of her husband and other officials.....well, if the fact she gave birth to Ali was the only thing she felt was of significance to those around her, it's really rather sad.

Roland Dallas, the highly sympathetic biographer of KH, writes Alia "suffered as a result of the King's fondness for British nannies." That, too, is sad. They were only married from 1972-1977--and he was out seeking affection or whatever you want to call it from others right there in the royal household. That's got to grate at one's self-esteem.

Her concern about her country's feelings toward her may very well have been the reason she felt the need to ignore the warnings and fly off to the hospital that day. Perhaps she felt she couldn't afford to let anyone down at that point. She was also a person who always gravitated toward people who needed help, according to her brother.

I wish more was known about Alia as one has to glean things from the little things written about her in other peoples' autobiographies or rely on the questionable recollections of her young children.

I'd read her father had died; are any of her siblings still around? I wonder how much contact they have--if any--with her children.

reading something like this makes you sad , what a lost , QA was a mother of three little kids , and she is gone before even knowing to say her name very well , and all of this was because she was good mother with feelings ,
i don't understand why others were mad of her ,

and what did she mean by saying I know I have produced a Crown Prince and that is something......" , is this the only important thing she did, and if it was PA suffered from this , it wasn't good thing , being a CP without mother , like being in the middle of lions carrying a piece of meat , i don't know but if QA feels what is going on , i think she would ripped her grave to protect her children ,

[maryshawn]

The following excerpts are from Margaret Trudeau's book "Beyond Reason":

I made a few intimate friends, with whom I could laugh about official life and briefly forget how much of a prisoner I was. The closest of these was Queen Alia of Jordan.

I met her and King Hussein for the first time when they came to Ottawa for an official visit, immediately after the 1974 election. We took to each other at once. Alia was magnificent to look at: a mass of striking blonde hair, green eyes, an irresistable smile. She arrived when I was at my lowest ebb....Within hours, she had taken me in hand, forced me to laugh about our lives, poked fun at my fears.

There was no formality between us: despite her being Palestinian born on the West Bank, and me a politician's daughter from Vancouver; we were just two girls, sitting and giggling in her bedroom, me in my jeans, her in her invariably magnificent clothes with trunks of silk lingeria and boxes of priceless jewels scattered about the floor. The fact she understood what I was talking about was enough to comfort me. "You're lucky, don't you understand," she kept repeating. "Pierre will eventually leave politics and you'll be free; mine is a life sentence."

More soberly, she wrote to me on October 17, 1974:

"Dearest Margaret, I finally received your letter, as I was reading it I felt I was talking to myself....it's not easy to find friends, especially in our positions--if we raged and screamed everyone would think we were absolutely crazy and yet I say only people who have feelings and love in them go through this....

Don't overload Pierre. Try to control yourself and when he is away, rage, break, scream and cry and get everything out. That is what I have learned to do and it has helped me and my husband.

.....I am scared to death because I am afraid for his life. I have never felt so insecure in my life as I do now because as you might know how many assasination attempts he has escaped. I only pray to God everything works out."

These were brave words. The fact I knew she was having a much harder time than I was and kept smiling also made my sentence easier to bear. When we went to Amman in June 1976, I found her just as exuberant but a little worried. Her extravagance and high spirits were beginning to make her enemies in Jordan and she was now frightened that a plan she had had to put up a monument to her daughter, Haya in the shape of a community center on a prime plot in the city was coming unglued. She had been rather haughty and sent in the bulldozers without permission and the mayor was furious and determined to put a stop to it. "I know I have produced a Crown Prince, and that is something," she said to me doubtfully, "but Hussein will be so angry."

Once again, we talked, we gossiped, we comforted each other. We even made plans to share a little London house where we could escape for holidays together. She had a fantasy we would join the European jet set and decorate our Chelsea home with all the taste she complained was lacking in her Amman palace. She was quick, she was sharp, she was witty. She made me laugh with her stories. I remember she told me that she had just overheard Haya, than three years old, say graciously to the elder child she and Hussein had adopted, "I am a Princess." The girl had sat silent for a moment, then replied gravely "I am the Queen Mother."

Our friendship was cemented by the marvelous present of cameras she gave me.......I saw her far too seldom but it was enough to know she was there. Our relationship became almost telepathic. On the days I was most depressed, the phone almost always rang: "Margaret, are you all right?"

[maryshawn]

And, yes, I wonder at the timing of the renaming of the QA Fund for Social Development. Suffice to say, I don't think it would have happened on KH's watch. There just seems to be no good reason for it to happen.........Like she's being erased from the scene once and for all. As the UAE gives a lot of aid to Jordan, I wonder what Princess Haya thinks of all of this......Very unfortunate.

[maryshawn]

Early on, QN with two of QA's children and a newborn Hamzah.

[maryshawn]

QA and her mother at a function a year before QA's death.

[maryshawn]

A few more of Alia. Dancing with Gerald Ford, official engagements and informal portrait at a meeting.

[maryshawn]

I happen to love this photo: