biography Princess Ghida, from King Hussein Center Cancer:
HRH Princess Ghida Talal was born Ghida Salaam on July 11 1963 to a
political family in Beirut, Lebanon. She attended school in Lebanon and graduated with the French Baccalaureate degree before traveling to the United States to attend Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Washington D.C.
After graduating magna cum laude with a joint Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in International Politics and Economics, she pursued a career in journalism, starting as a researcher for ABC NEWS in London. A fluent speaker of Arabic, English, French and Spanish, she left London to work in Argentina as the correspondent of London’s Sunday Times newspaper. Amongst other things, she was one of the first journalists on the scene to cover the overthrow of Paraguay’s longest serving dictator General Stroessner. Her job also took her to Beirut where she covered the fighting between the various Lebanese factions as well as the foreign hostage crisis for the Reuters news agency. Her final journalistic experience was with the Financial Times of London.
In July 1991, Princess Ghida married HRH Prince Talal bin Muhammad of Jordan. Soon thereafter, His Majesty King Hussein asked her to establish the International Press Office of the Royal Hashemite Court and to become his Press Secretary until he passed away in 1999. As Press Secretary for King Hussein, Princess Ghida oversaw all press activities pertaining to His Majesty and directed research projects including numerous political and economic publications on Jordan. She accompanied His Majesty on official visits and headed a team of writers and press officers who covered official state visits, press conferences and interviews.
In October 2001, His Majesty King Abdullah II appointed her as the Chairperson of the King Hussein Cancer Center (KHCC). As the wife of a cancer survivor and knowing first hand the heavy toll that cancer takes not only on the patient but also on his loved ones, Princess Ghida decided to change careers and devote herself to the fight against cancer. Her first priority was to raise the standard of care at the Center to a level of excellence. Towards that aim, she met in the United States with the leadership of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) which resulted in the signing of a cooperative agreement with the NCI in September 2002. She also strengthened a partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Princess Ghida devotes all her time to the King Hussein Cancer Center and is a tireless fund-raiser and advocate for the Center.
Princess Ghida also serves on the Board of Regents of her alma materGeorgetown University, USA, and on the board of the National Gallery of Fine Arts in Jordan. She lives in Jordan and is a mother to three children: Prince Hussein (born 1999) and twins Princess Rajaa and Prince Muhammad (born 2001).