The Queen That Time Forgot

After King Charles III’s coronation that brought most members of the world’s royal families to London to celebrate, news from the world’s Royals was pretty quiet.     That is until this past June, when the Crown Prince of Jordan was married.   The Jordanian wedding brought many of the world’s Kings and Queens and other royals to Ammann to celebrate in all their gorgeous finery and bling. 

For those few days, the world’s attention was on the wedding of Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein and his bride Rajwa.  The Crown Prince is the son of King Abdullah II and his wife, Queen Rania.   It is the popularity of the King, Queen, and Crown Prince that drew the world’s press to Amman to report on all the festivities. 

But missing from the celebration was Jordan’s  former Queen, a once most beloved figure in Jordan.

The question was - where was Queen Noor?  

Whatever happened to Queen Noor???

Years and years ago, when Noor married King Hussein, she made news around the globe.   They later had four children and through the years Noor remained a vibrant figure.  But that all changed when King Hussein died and a new Jordanian King and Queen were named:  King Abdullah II and Queen Rania.

Queen Rania stole the spotlight from Queen Noor and the more popular Rania became, Noor seemed to disappear into the background. 

If fact, it wasn’t until this wedding that I even thought about Queen Noor.  Queen Rania captures so much of the world’s attention that Queen Noor is almost forgotten.

Whatever happened to her? 

The current King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein and his wife Queen Rania of Jordan.

Their eldest son, the Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan was the groom this past June. 

The groom, Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah with his parents King Abdullah II and Queen Rania.

 

The rise of Rania began when her husband, Abdullah II succeeded his father, King Hussein on February 7, 1999.  Members of the Hashemite Dynasty, they have ruled Jordan since 1921.

Most incredibly, King Abdullah is a 41st-generation direct descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

The Hashemites hail from the House of Hashem and since they are direct descendants of Muhammad, they have ruled Mecca from as early as the 10th century.

King Abdullah II and Rania have four children: 

Crown Prince Hussein, Princess Salma, Prince Hashem and Princess Iman.

  Earlier this year, Princess Iman was married.  Her wedding didn’t receive the international attention that her brother’s, the Crown Prince, did later in June. 

Queen Rania is a gorgeous woman, known not only for her charity work, but also for her good looks and chic clothes.   She is noted as one of the most beautiful Queens and Queens-to-be of all the royals.  Others in this group include the Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Queen Letizia of Spain and the Princess of Wales. See them below, dressed for the day. 

 

Crown Princess Victoria, Crown Princess Mary, Queen Letizia and the Princess of Wales.

 

 

Queen Rania is the most glamourous of all.  She is tall – she even towers over her diminutive King.  And she never seems to make a misstep.  Always smiling, Queen Rania is Palestinian but grew up in Jordan.  She met her husband, then a Prince, after graduating college and working at Citibank and Apple.  The couple married six months after they met at the same palace where their son would later marry in June.  When Rania married Abdullah, he was a prince who was not in line to be King.

That he would later be crowned King was a shock that rocked the Jordanian family to its core.

  

 

The future King and Queen of Jordan, then Prince Abdullah II and Princess Rania.

At the wedding, Rania’s husband, Prince Abdullah, was just one of many princes.  His father, King Hussein was married four times and had many children.  Rania was a commoner.   After they were crowned King and Queen, Rania became an international star.  Besides being known for her philanthropic work she also was on best dressed lists.  She is certainly one of the most well known royals.

But, Queen Rania? 

Wasn’t there another Queen of Jordan??   

The June wedding got me thinking.

  Wasn’t Queen Noor the Queen of Jordan?  Whatever happened to Lisa Halaby aka Noor?

Before the royal Jordanian wedding this June, I had all but forgotten about Queen Noor.   I was always reading about Rania, watching what she wore on Instagram, following her on royal blogs.   Rania gets so much coverage that Queen Noor is hardly ever mentioned on social media.

    Once, Queen Noor was as loved as Rania and as popular world wide.  She received as much press attention and respect as the current Queen.

When had that all changed and why?

    Anyone my age will remember the story of the Queen of Jordan, Queen Noor al-Hussein.    She was born Lisa Halaby in America, and was a young woman of 27 when in 1978 she married the once playboy King of Jordan, aged 43,   someone she barely knew.     

             

The wedding of Lisa Halaby and King Hussein.  Her dress was casual, something you would wear to a garden wedding in California.  It was a Christian Dior, supposedly copied from an Yves Saint Laurent dress that Noor owned.

I remember being shocked at their wedding.  I was 24 and ten years away from marrying.  Princess Diana wouldn’t marry for another four years so at that time – this was a huge Royal wedding even if it was a little scandalous.   The couple seemed mismatched.  The King was so much older than Lisa and he was a King while she was just a commoner from America, a daughter of divorced parents.  The King had been married three times before he made Lisa his Queen bride.

    At the wedding, the couple posed before a stunning collection of blue opaline!!   Love the wallcoverings.

    Lisa’s mother was Swedish but her father was Lebanese American and that was the Middle Eastern connection.  JFK had appointed her father head of the Federal Aviation Administration.  Later, he was CEO of Pan Am for ten years.

    This detail really interested me – something I never knew before:  Lisa’s grandfather was Syrian-Lebanese and in the mid 1920s he opened a shop at Neiman Marcus in Dallas – a rug and interior design space.

    Lisa Halaby graduated from Princeton with a degree in architecture -  her senior thesis was “96th Street and 2nd Avenue” in NYC. After graduating, Lisa went to Jordan to work for Alia Air (Royal Jordanian Air.)

It was there that she met the King who was still mourning the death of his third wife, Queen Alia.  After pondering his marriage proposal for two weeks, Lisa Halaby accepted.  To marry, she had to convert to Islam and her name was changed to Noor Al Hussein (Light of Hussein.)

    After marriage, Noor had four children in quick succession, including a Crown Prince, Hamzah.

 King Hussein died in 1999 from cancer.

    And this is when the storms began.

    Here’s a quick look at the King’s complicated family.

King Hussein had one daughter with his first wife Dina, whom he divorced after just two years. Their daughter was named Alia. After their divorce,  Queen Dina became HRH Princess of Jordan.  She later married a high official of the PLO – the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

   Hussein and Queen Dina, his older first wife.

Hussein and Dina were distant cousins.  When they married Dina was 25 and Hussein was just 19.  His mother was behind the match, but the two quickly became enemies.   After the divorce, Dina lost custody of their daughter.  Dina became famous for negotiating the largest prisoner release of PLOs from Israel, one of whom was her second husband.  Dina passed away at age 89 and Hussein and two of his sons attended her funeral.

After their divorce, Hussein then married Princess Muna, whom he divorced in 1972.  Muna was English, born in Suffolk as Toni Gardiner.  She met the King on the set of Lawrence of Arabia, where she worked as a secretary.  They had four children, the oldest is now King Abdullah II who is married to Queen Rania.

    Muna and Hussein’s wedding which took place in the Zahran palace where the most recent wedding took place this June.  Muna and Hussein were married for ten years.   Most interesting, after the divorce, she was given their four children and a palace in Amman. She never remarried and still lives in Jordan.  As the beautiful mother of King Abdullah II, she attends all the royal weddings, including the latest one of her grandson, the Crown Prince Hussein.

    Here is Princess Muna, elegant in lavender, at the Crown Prince’s wedding reception this past June.

King Hussein and his and Muna’s son the current King Abdullah II, husband of Queen Rania.

    Three days after Hussein divorced Muna, he married Alia, an Egyptian,  who gave him two children, bringing the total up to 8 at that time.  They also adopted a Palestinian child who was orphaned.  It is said Hussein was devoted to Alia and was very much in love with her.   They were married only five years when Alia died in a helicopter crash.  She was buried at Hashimiyah Palace, which had been built for Alia and had just been completed.   Hashimiyah Palace was used again for the June wedding reception and private banquet this June.  

 

    Queen Alia’s three children, including their adopted little girl.

Deeply depressed over Alia’s death, King Hussein found comfort with Lisa Halaby and quickly proposed - marrying Queen Noor just a year after Alia died.

King Hussein’s wives and eleven children:

Despite the strangeness of a King having four wives – there is one story about Hussein that defines belief – but it is true.  The CIA released their once top secret information of an affair the King had while traveling in America:

After the divorce from his first wife Dina, 24 year old Hussein went to California where he requested government sources set him up with actresses.  He eventually met and dated actress Susan Cabot, 32 years old.  She was taken with the dashing Hussein and the CIA arranged another meeting between the two in NYC.

Susan Cabot

The CIA set King Hussein up in a house and Cabot in a hotel while in New York.  The CIA feared news would get out about the King and Cabot who was born Harriet Shapiro and was Jewish. The CIA was worried their tryst would become newsworthy.  In 1961, Cabot gave birth to a son, a dwarf.  She in turn received $1500 a month for life, presumed to be from Hussein.  In 1986, her son,  (and presumably the King’s) Timothy Roman, beat her to death!!!

 

   Timothy Roman. 

Born a dwarf, Roman was given growth hormones which caused him to grow to 5’4”.  His lawyers blamed the hormones for his mental illness and murderous rage.  He spent just a few years in prison for killing his mother and later died in 2003 of heart disease.

To me, Timothy looks nothing at all like King Hussein, so who knows whether he was really Timothy’s father even though Hussein paid child support to his mother?

Mental illness does occur in Hussein’s family.  His father served as King for just a year when he was forced to abdicate due to schizophrenia. He spent the rest of his life in a sanatorium in Istanbul.  Because of this, his son, King Hussein, came to the throne when he was just 17.

He was known as the Playboy King, but Hussein’s last two marriages were his happiest and seemed to tame his wild, roaming ways.

King Hussein and Queen Noor were said to have a very happy marriage.  She was highly intelligent and took on many philanthropic projects for Jordan.   She was also considered cool and quiet as opposed to warm and demonstrative.  She had great hopes for her children, especially her eldest son Hamzah, that somehow, one day, he would be King.

    Why do men always look more handsome as they age????

Queen Noor in her tiara which she received as a push present for the birth of their first son Hamzah in 1980.  She altered the tiara, making it more symmetrical in 1983.   She rarely wore the tiara and was last seen in it in 2000 for a photoshoot.  Hussein gifted each of his four wives a tiara with Queen Muna getting more than the others.  Queen Alia’s tiara came from Cartier.   

On February 7, 1999 at the age of 63, King Hussein died of cancer.  After his death, Queen Noor has divided her time between Jordan, Washington D.C. and England – at her home in Buckhurst Park in Berkshire.  

The question of who would be his successor became a great power play with Queen Noor pulling strings behind the scenes.

After King Hussein’s death, his first born son by Queen Muna, became King Abdullah II.  Abdullah was never meant to be King and it was a great shock to Noor when her own first born son Hamzah was completely overlooked.

   

        The 1999 Investiture of King Abdullah II and Queen Rania.

        Princess Muna, King Abdullah’s mother and her father who is Abdullah’s grandfather.  At the right is Queen Rania.

        The Investiture of King Abdullah II took place in June 9, 1999.  Abdullah was Hussein’s first born son by Queen Muna.  She attended the Investiture with the rest of most of the royal family.  Missing was Queen Noor who left for the US a few weeks before the Investiture. 

  Did any of Queen Noor’s children attend the investiture of this half brother King Abdullah II?

Noor’s first born son, the then Crown Prince Hamzah, was in England, studying, or so it was said.  His brother and sisters were in school in the US.  And so, none of Queen Noor’s children celebrated with Abdullah at his Investiture. 

By not attending, Noor and her children were sending a signal of displeasure that Abdullah would be King and Hamzah would be Crown Prince (but not for long!!!)

Why was this succession decided by King Hussein?

Succession of the throne in Jordan is not decided as it is in England.   The current King names the future King and Crown Prince, regardless of whether their are the first born. 

By law, those eligible to succeed are mentally sound Muslim men who are legitimate and are descendants of Abdullah I, and are born to Muslim parents.  The King can appoint his brother as an heir apparent. 

Before King Abdullah  II was born, the heir to the throne was King Hussein’s brother Prince Muhammad.   When Abdullah II was born, as his father’s eldest son, he was named Heir Apparent.   In 1965 King Hussein decided instead to name his other brother Hassan as heir apparent because of the instability of the wars of the 1960s – Abdullah would be too young to reign if Hussein or Hassan would be assassinated.

    But after marrying Queen Noor, Hussein changed his mind yet again and after holding the title of Crown Prince for 34 years, Hussan was left without a place in succession.   Now near death, Hussein named his first born son Abdullah II his successor with his assurance that Abdullah would name his half brother, Noor’s first born son Hamzah, as Crown Prince.

  Abdullah II would become heir, yet again. 

The Crown Prince would become Hamzah – Hussein’s first son by Queen Noor.  

The 2004 wedding of Hamzah with his mother Queen Noor and Queen Rania and his brother King Abdullah II.

All was well for five years…until…

In 2009, King Abdullah stripped Hamzah of the title of Crown Prince, naming Abdullah and Rania’s eldest son, Hussein bin Abdullah as Crown Prince instead.  The Crown Prince Hussein is the same prince who was just married a few weeks ago in June.

  Despite all Queen Noor’s manipulations and wishes that one day her eldest son Hamzah would be King, there is no hope of that happening now.

  Queen Noor and Hamzah, her first born son, the former Crown Prince. 

All did not end well for Hamzah.  He was said to have plotted with foreign parties to destabilize Jordan.  Authorities accused Hamzah of trying to overthrow the King in a coup.  A huge disruption occurred in the royal family when Hamzah publicly announced he was being held prisoner in his own home. He gave a video to the BBC saying he was silenced because Jordan was stymied in corruption, nepotism, and misrule.  King Abdullah II believed Hamzah was a direct threat to his power base.  The King has tried to create political change, but his critics feel the reforms have not gone far enough.  The United States backs King Abdullah II.  Hamzah remains under house arrest.

Despite all the turmoil in the royal family,  the wedding of the Crown Prince this June was a huge success, attended by many royals from around the world, except for Queen Noor and some of her family.

As Noor had done on Abdullah II’s coronation, she again was AWOL from his son’s June wedding (although some of her children and grandchildren did attend,)

Queen Noor and Queen Rania have never been close due to Noor’s apparent jealousy that her own son Hamzah was regulated to a footnote in history.   Was she also jealous that Jordan now has a Queen even more beloved than Noor?  As the years go by, Noor has faded in to the background while Rania has become one of the world’s most respected Queens. 

  

THE JUNE WEDDING OF THE CROWN PRINCE

The wedding of the Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah II of Jordan to Rajwa Al Saif was on June 1, just days before his parents own 30th wedding anniversary.  Rajwa Al Saif, 29,  an architect,  is a second cousin of the ruler of Saudi Arabia.  Rajwa’s mother is a member of the royal family of Saudi.

                                         

The Jordanian royal weddings are different than the English royal  weddings that we Americans are so used to.  The religious ceremonies are very small and intimate.  But their receptions are large and festive with ethnic music and dancing.   The world’s attention was captured by the Jordanian wedding of the Crown Prince. 

 

The religious ceremony took place at 4 pm in the gardens at Zahran Palace in Amman.  This is also where the Prince’s parents were married – King Abdullah II and Queen Rania.  Also, King Hussein and Princess Muna were married there in 1961 and this palace is where King Abdullah II’s grandmother Queen Zein once lived.

Zahran Palace was built in 1950 and has hosted quite a few royal weddings.

After the religious ceremony, the newly married couple traveled the streets to the Hashimiyah Palace where both the reception and the private wedding banquet were held.   This is the palace that was built for Queen Alia who died a few months later and was buried on its grounds.     

                                                                                   THE RELIGIOUS CEREMONY AT ZAHRAN PALACE:

The religious ceremony took place at Zahran Palace, shown here when it was first built in 1957.   It is amazing to see how empty the town of Amman was just sixty plus years ago.   All desert then, the city grew up around this palace and the many  other royal palaces also built in Amman.

  Aerial view of Zahran Palace today.  Through the front door, wedding guests walked in to the gardens and later greeted the royal family.   

 

Another aerial view from the back of the palace.

  The front of Zahran palace where the royal guests arrived for the afternoon religious ceremony.   

  Blooming flowers greeted the royal guests as they walked through the entrance out to the religious ceremony. 

The Prince and Princess of Wales head to the ceremony after greeting King Abdullah II and Queen Rania in the lobby. 

 

King Abdullah II and Queen Rania.   Rania wore a black and gold Dior gown to the religious ceremony and reception.  She changed for the private banquet which was held after the large reception.

  Princess Beatrice and her husband greet King Abdullah II and Queen Rania after entering the palace.  Beatrice looked stunning at the ceremony.   

The parents of the bride.  Rajwa’s mother is very beautiful.  She chose to stay in the same dress throughout both the day and night festivities.  Most of the other royals changed for the private Banquet.

King Abdullah II’s two daughter’s:   Iman and Salma.   Iman was married a few months before Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa.  I love her dress!

King Abdullah II’s mother is Princess Muna, the Englishwoman King Hussein married and had four children with: Abdullah, Feisal and the twin girls seen above Zein and Aisha.  Aisha is wearing the same Reem Acra dress that Beatrice will later wear to the Banquet Dinner. 

Aisha in her champagne Reem Acra dress during the Religious ceremony. 

Who wore it better?   Princess Beatrice changed into the champagne Reem Acra for the private Banquet.  She actually was one of the Best Dressed at the wedding, for both events.   And finishing her evening look was her mother’s tiara, a gift to Sarah Ferguson from Queen Elizabeth on her wedding day.   The tiara hasn’t been seen in years and is one of only two times Beatrice has worn a tiara, the first was when she wore Queen Elizabeth’s wedding tiara at her own wedding.

I don’t know BUT since Queen Elizabeth loaned her wedding tiara to Beatrice for her wedding AND she also loaned her a cocktail dress which Beatrice restyled – shouldn’t Camilla or King Charles gift Beatrice with the tiara?  It’s not that the kingdom doesn’t have dozens if not hundreds of tiaras, too many to actually ever wear???  Beatrice was especially close to the Queen and it would be such a wonderful, sentimental gift.  Somehow I doubt Beatrice will ever even see that precious tiara again.

 

The Queen and Prince Philip attended the wedding, which very very few did because of Covid. 

 

Close up of the Queen’s tiara and her restyled dress.  Just gorgeous.

Now back to the guests at the religious ceremony in Amman, Jordan:

The King’s younger brother, Prince Faisal with his wife, Princess Zeina seen at the religious ceremony.

 

 

Another family member, Princess Alia, the daughter of King Hussein and his first wife, Princess Dina.  Alia was King Hussein’s first born child.

 

Prince Ali, the eldest son of King Hussein and his third wife, Queen Alia, was with his wife, Princess Rym.    

 

 

Although Queen Noor was not at the family wedding, some of her children and grandchildren did attend.   Here is Prince Hashim, King Hussein and Noor’s younger son.  He came with his wife Princess Fahdah.  Their daughter Haalah made a big splash at the wedding. 

 

Their teenaged daughter and Noor’s granddaughter, Princess Haalah Bint Hashim, attended the wedding and all eyes were on her.  The teenaged royal Jordanian girls are rarely photographed and this was one of the first times the world had seen Haalah and as such she received quite a lot of favorable press.     

 

Princess Raiyah, the younger daughter of King Hussein and Queen Noor, and her husband, Ned Donovan, were also at the wedding.  Ned is the grandson of Roald Dahl and Patricia Neal.  They were married in a private ceremony during Covid.

   

Seen walking to the religious ceremony, Kate wore a blush Elie Saab dress to this afternoon event.

First Lady Jill Biden and her daughter Ashley walking through the gardens to the religious ceremony.

Princess Beatrice, Best Dressed, looked fabulous in this blue dress.

 

  The Crown Prince and Princess of Denmark.  My favorite royal couple!!!

 

Queen Maxima!  And the King of the Netherlands.

The Crown Princess of Sweden and her husband.  Love her dress at the religious ceremony.

Now this was very puzzling to me.  They are called the emeritus King and Queen of Spain, but he abdicated his throne, making his son Felipe King.   The former king is a crook – he had to abdicate because he was accused of corruption involving Saudi Arabia and more.  Their marriage is a sham, he has several illegitimate children and even more mistresses.    He is exiled from Spain and lives, apparently in UAE.

As to why King Felipe and his beautiful wife Queen Letizia were not at the wedding?  Apparently King Felipe had previous commitments.

 

 

Sheikha Moza, mother of the Emir of Qatar, and wife of the former Emir.  Her husband has three wives.  The first and third wife are both the Emir’s cousins.  Together, the wives have given him 34 children. 

Moza is considered one of the most elegant women in the world.  She is on the International Best Dressed List and is lauded for inspiring modest, yet fashionable clothing for Muslim women. 

Here a vintage ad for the same 1989 Valentino.

The Religious Ceremony:

 

The bride Rajwa was walked down the aisle by her soon to be brother-in-law, King Abdullah II’s and Queen Raina’s youngest son Prince Hashem.

She wore a dress designed by Lebanese Elie Saab.

Prince Hussein’s two sisters Iman and Salma helped with the voluminous train.  The wedding dress was deceptive.   From the front it looked sleek and tailored, but from the back a large detached embroidered train was a surprise.

The Religious Ceremony open to the garden.

The crowd was small, only Royals, close relatives, and heads of state.  This is the group that was invited to the late night private Banquet Dinner.

  The couples sit down and then papers are signed by all on the podium. 

Contracts?  Or pre-nup?

 

  The handsome couple. 

 

After the religious ceremony, the royals and heads of state lined up to congratulate the couple.  The Wales stopped to talk – and after exactly 11 seconds ! - William got impatient (like his father) and told Kate to chop-chop, even demonstrating it with his hands.  The bride caught him doing this – which you can see in this photo - but Kate ignored him for a few more seconds before finally taking the hint and moving on. 

 

THE PARADE:

Next, the Prince and Princess Rajwa rode through the streets to the Hashimiyah Palace where over 1700 guests attended a reception.

 

The parade to the reception.  The soldiers were dressed like the Jordanian flag.

 

THE RECEPTION AT HASHIMIYAH PALACE:

Arriving at the Hashimiyah Palace for the reception.

 

First, King Abdullah II and Queen Rania and their family walked down the long aisle to the podium.  Next the married couple made their way down, along with hundreds of dancers and musicians leading the way.   Lining the aisles were all the guests.

The long walk to the podium,

A view of the entrance through the double arches to the central aisle leading to the podium.

Isn’t this palace gorgeous???  It’s like something of a fairy tale.

 

 

Twilight.  Just stunning!  Knights of Arabia!!

Off to the sides are “rooms” beneath the pergolas with white sofas and tables.  

The royal couple on the podium.  Eagle eyes spotted Kate’s mother Carol Middleton, her sister Pippa, along with her husband.  Was that really them?  You can see them right in front of King Abdullah.

A close up view of Carol and Pippa.  Is that them?   I’m not convinced, but all the press was.

The reception lasted for quite a while and the music was festive.  While this was going on, all the guests lined up to congratulate the couple and royal family.   I can’t imagine how tired they must have been by now.   The religious ceremony started at 4:00 pm and the reception lasted until at least 8:00 pm.   And,  the private banquet had not even started yet.   

 

The cake was cut and I wonder if this is the only food all the guests had?

The Hashimiyah Palace at night all lit up!!

 

THE PRIVATE BANQUET:

After the reception was finally over, the private banquet was held for the family, the royal guests, and the heads of states who had all attended the religious ceremony.

For this late night banquet, all the guests had returned to their hotels and changed into their evening finery. 

 

 

 

 

Here, Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa enter the banquet in their newly changed clothes.   This dress was designed by Dolce and Gabbana.

 

Rajwa’s tiara is new, from FRED.  There is Arabic script on the side which says “Rajwatum min Allah.”  Hope from Allah.

 

 

Queen Rania’s banquet outfit.  LOVE!!      

 

   

Proud parents.

The Queen of Spain in yet another greeting line.

 

The Prince and Princess of Wales.  He didn’t rush Kate through the line this time.

 

Kate was stunning in her Jenny Packman dress.   She wore the Lovers Knot Tiara which was designed for Queen Mary using pearls from another tiara.  Prince Charles gave it to Diana on their wedding but after the divorce Diana returned it.  

 

The future Queen of Sweden in hot pink.

 

The King and Queen of the Netherlands with their daughter, the future Queen in deep pink.

 

The Netherlands royals have the most remarkable jewels.  Queen Maxima is always seen in fantastic necklaces and tiaras, which it looks like she is sharing with the future Queen.

 

     

The former Empress of Iran Farah Pahlavi.

  And Sheikha Moza, this time in a more sedate green gown, talking with Queen Maxima.

The Hereditary Prince and Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein, not sure what that even means!!  Love her dress.

 

The Crown Prince and Princess of Denmark.   Some people questioned if Mary’s bare shoulder was acceptable at the wedding.  Probably not.  Still, it’s surprising she wore that dress, Mary rarely makes waves – if ever.

    

Another view of the Wales.

Queen Jetsun Pema of Bhutan.  Where was the most handsome King in the world, her husband Jigme??

She looks so pretty, as usual.

And Princess Beatrice in her mother’s tiara, wearing the same dress as King Abdullah’s sister wore to the religious ceremony.

The famous tiara, made especially for Sarah to wear at her wedding to Andrew.   Here, the tiara is seen for the first time in years and years.

It’s an exceptionally beautiful tiara, especially for a newly designed one. 

I love how her newly designed tiara resembles an older one – it sits high up on the head.

    A portion of the group photo showing our First Lady Jill Biden at the banquet dinner.   

  

MISSING GUESTS: 

One relative missing was Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, the daughter of King Hussein and Queen Alia.  Haya married Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashed Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, becoming his sixth wife. 

Their marriage fell apart and Haya fled Dubai “in fear for her life” after her husband became concerned she was too close to her British bodyguard.   Their divorce became the most talked about separation in the press.  The Sheikh paid her 554 million pounds in the divorce settlement.  He also lost custody of their two children.  Princess Haya lives in Wales now.

While there are a few member of King Hussein’s immediate family who didn’t come to the wedding, most did attend.

The two most notable absences were Hussein’s son, the imprisoned Prince Hamzah and his mother, the elusive Queen Noor.

Her rift with the royal family is so wide there will probably never be a reconciliation unless Hamzah is released from house arrest.

It must be so terrible for Queen Noor to live through.  She was the beloved Queen of Jordan for many years and had high hopes her son would become King.  All her wishes vanished when Rania was crowned Queen and Abdullah was crowned King.   No longer was Hamzah to be King or Crown Prince, Noor was also no longer the most beloved Queen in Jordan.   Instead of embracing the new royal family, Noor chose to isolate herself which caused Rania to gain even more adoration.

Queen Noor has a home in Jordan and several in England and America, the countries that she travels the most to.   Queen Noor is still active in charities and her other interests, but her power is now gone.

With Rania’s immense popularity, it seems as if  Queen Noor is all but forgotten. 

 

Queen Noor today.   She is still attractive and looks young for her age.

She is mostly quiet, but she did tweet a message about her son Hamzah in 2021.

 

 

That same day,  the wife of King Hussein’s brother tweeted this message although she later deleted it.   It shows the deep rift in the two royal families:

 

                                            

Through the years Queen Noor has tweeted other messages about Hamzah, still protecting his image and attempting to correct what she calls lies.

Prince Hamzah was not King Hussein’s oldest son and he was not his choice for King.  It’s probably time Queen Noor and Hamzah accept that, but it is unlikely to happen.  Instead, the feud colors her own reputation and final legacy.   

 

Queen Noor gave a talk in NYC in May, right before the wedding.   She also recently recorded a long interview about Queen Elizabeth upon her death.  It’s on You Tube, as are many videos from the wedding.

I hope you enjoyed this story of the long lost Queen Noor and the Royal Wedding she could not and would not attend.