Noor Al Hussein Jordanian Queen, consort of King Hussein bin Talal

Queen Noor Al Hussein (23 August 1951 -), her original name is Lisa Najib Al Halabi, wife of the late King Hussein bin Talal of Jordan. Her father, Najeeb Elias Halabi, is an American of Syrian origin, and her mother, Doris Karlquist, is of Swedish origin.

She is interested in Jordanian culture, children’s and women’s rights, and contributes to many non-governmental organizations. With the participation of Yarmouk University students, it established the Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts. She wrote and published her memoirs in 2003 under the name “The Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life,” during which she spoke about her life from the time she married King Hussein bin Talal to his death.

Her studies and work

She was educated in a number of schools in California, Washington, and New York. She studied at the National Cathedral School from the fourth to the eighth grade. She attended Chapin School in New York City, until she finished her studies at Concord Academy in Massachusetts, and in 1974 obtained a BA from Princeton University in architecture and urban planning. After completing her studies, she participated in a number of international projects in the field of urban design and planning in the United States, Australia and a number of countries in the Middle East, including Iran and Jordan. To Royal Jordanian Airlines for the position of Director of Planning and Design.

its activities

Her interests are diverse and varied in the fields of education, art, cultural awareness, environmental protection, social welfare, preservation of architectural heritage, child care, developing the role of women in society, and enhancing understanding between Jordan and other countries. Among the works it has done are:

She heads the “Royal Foundation for Culture and Education” and is active in its work, especially in the field of assessing Jordan’s future needs of manpower and providing opportunities for talented Jordanian students to complete their higher education abroad, as the Foundation provides them with scholarships and scholarships in the field of their development specializations.
She sponsors the arts in Jordan, where she helped establish the Royal Cultural Center, as well as the National Museum of Fine Arts in Amman, which contains collections of Jordanian, Arab, Islamic and international artworks. It also supported the Jordanian handicrafts sector with the aim of immortalizing the traditional skills and crafts handed down by parents and grandparents.
In partnership with Yarmouk University students, she founded the Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts, and chaired the festival’s Supreme National Committee.
He chaired the Royal Commission for the Preservation of Architectural Heritage.
He headed the Higher National Committee for Environmental Protection, whose activities include drafting a new law that would better protect the environment and reforest trees in Jordan to reduce soil erosion and help revive wildlife.
On her initiative, she founded the Queen Noor Project for Greening and Developing the Jordanian Rural, which aims to develop integrated programs to raise the standard of life for citizens in the countryside through local committees and rural communities.
She participates in many voluntary activities and social welfare programs, as she is the honorary president of the “Jordanian Charitable Society for the Care of the Deaf,” and supports many institutions that deal with the disabled.
Under her guidance, a model village was established and established for orphaned children, which was designed to provide them with an atmosphere that resembles, as closely as possible, a normal family life. She also holds the honorary honorary presidency of the “Society of Children’s Villages (S.O.S)”, and is the driving force behind the national campaign to develop comprehensive health centers to raise the level of child care throughout the Kingdom.
She established the Joint Arab Culture Program, which she continues to supervise. It is an annual program through which a number of children from all parts of the Arab world are invited to visit Jordan to learn closely about the Jordanian heritage and to deepen the common Arab civilizational and cultural ties in their souls.
She holds the honorary presidency of the “Jordanian Professional Women’s Club” and the “Jordanian Working Women’s Club” in order to encourage the role of working women in the field of economic and social development in Jordan while maintaining the strong cohesion of family ties within the traditional social framework in Jordan.
She holds the honorary presidency of the “Queen Noor Technical Institute for Civil Aviation”, which provides training at international levels in various fields of specialization in civil aviation.
She played a key role in the development of the Jordan Society in the United States, an institution established in Washington, D.C. by American personalities.

On June 15, 1978, she married King Hussein, after they met while working in Jordan, and they had:

Prince Hamzah (born March 29, 1980).

Prince Hashem (born June 10, 1981).

Princess Iman (born April 24, 1983).

Princess Raya (born February 9, 1986).

The Queen’s interests vary in the fields of education, art, cultural awareness, environmental protection, social welfare, preservation of architectural heritage, child care and the development of the role of women in society.

The Queen wrote and published her memoirs in 2003 under the title “Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life,” in which she spoke about her life from her marriage to King Hussein to his death.

King Abdullah II entrusted Queen Noor with founding and chairing the King Hussein Foundation, as she contributed to the founding of many non-governmental organizations, and also participated in the establishment of the Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts.
She headed the Royal Institution for Culture and Education and the Royal Committee for the Preservation of Architectural Heritage. She also holds the honorary presidency of the Jordanian Women Professionals Club and the Jordanian Working Women’s Club, and the honorary presidency of the Queen Noor Technical Institute for Civil Aviation.

Queen Noor Al Hussein.. Back in the spotlight after years of absence
After being outside the circle of media attention for years, Queen Noor Al Hussein returned to the forefront of the scene again during the recent developments in Jordan and talked about a “conspiracy” that included her son Prince Hamzah bin Al Hussein.

Recent developments in Jordan have again put the spotlight on Queen Noor Al Hussein, the fourth and last American wife of the late King Hussein of Jordan. Queen Noor married King Hussein at the age of twenty-seven, but she became a royal widow two decades later, at the age of forty-seven.

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Queen Noor Al Hussein.. Back in the spotlight after years of absence

11.04.2021

 

After being outside the circle of media attention for years, Queen Noor Al Hussein returned to the forefront of the scene again during the recent developments in Jordan and talked about a “conspiracy” that included her son Prince Hamzah bin Al Hussein.

Recent developments in Jordan have again put the spotlight on Queen Noor Al Hussein, the fourth and last American wife of the late King Hussein of Jordan. Queen Noor married King Hussein at the age of twenty-seven, but she became a royal widow two decades later, at the age of forty-seven.

Politics | 06.04.2021

Oman bans publication in the case of Prince Hamzah and receives a Saudi minister

 

And the American newspaper “Los Angeles Times” said in a report it recently published that more than twenty years after the departure of King Hussein, the Queen, an American-born – whose original name is Lisa Najeeb Al-Halabi, returned to the scene in the midst of recent developments in Jordan, surrounded by her eldest son, Prince Hamzah. Bin Al Hussein, who

She hoped one day that he would succeed his father, King Hussein, the charismatic figure, on the throne of the Hashemite Kingdom.

Last week, the Jordanian army command confirmed that the allegations about the arrest of the former crown prince were “incorrect, and that he was asked to stop the movements and activities that are used to target Jordan’s security and stability.” She said that this came “within the framework of comprehensive, joint investigations carried out by the security services,” and as a result of which Sharif Hassan bin Zaid was arrested. Queen Noor commented on the crisis, expressing her hope that “truth and justice will prevail for all the innocent victims of this sinful slander.”

Last Wednesday, King Abdullah II announced that “strife has ended” in the country after a dispute with his half-brother, former Crown Prince Hamzah bin Al Hussein, and stressed that the kingdom is now “stable and secure.”

Before the king’s speech, the royal court issued a statement indicating that Prince Hassan bin Talal had led efforts to resolve the issue, and had Prince Hamzah sign a statement in which he placed himself in the hands of the king.
The Los Angeles Times said the threads of what happened seem all too familiar: the traumatic circumstances that follow the death of Royal, reverberating over the years, and family tensions that have been simmering for a generation before exploding in plain sight.

broadcast live

 

Main

Politics and Economy

advertisement

Queen Noor Al Hussein.. Back in the spotlight after years of absence

11.04.2021

 

After being outside the circle of media attention for years, Queen Noor Al Hussein returned to the forefront of the scene again during the recent developments in Jordan and talked about a “conspiracy” that included her son Prince Hamzah bin Al Hussein.

Recent developments in Jordan have again put the spotlight on Queen Noor Al Hussein, the fourth and last American wife of the late King Hussein of Jordan. Queen Noor married King Hussein at the age of twenty-seven, but she became a royal widow two decades later, at the age of forty-seven.

Politics | 06.04.2021

Oman bans publication in the case of Prince Hamzah and receives a Saudi minister

 

And the American newspaper “Los Angeles Times” said in a report it recently published that more than twenty years after the departure of King Hussein, the Queen, an American-born – whose original name is Lisa Najeeb Al-Halabi, returned to the scene in the midst of recent developments in Jordan, surrounded by her eldest son, Prince Hamzah. Bin Al Hussein, who

She hoped one day that he would succeed his father, King Hussein, the charismatic figure, on the throne of the Hashemite Kingdom.

Last week, the Jordanian army command confirmed that the allegations about the arrest of the former crown prince were “incorrect, and that he was asked to stop the movements and activities that are used to target Jordan’s security and stability.” She said that this came “within the framework of comprehensive, joint investigations carried out by the security services,” and as a result of which Sharif Hassan bin Zaid was arrested. Queen Noor commented on the crisis, expressing her hope that “truth and justice will prevail for all the innocent victims of this sinful slander.”

Last Wednesday, King Abdullah II announced that “strife has ended” in the country after a dispute with his half-brother, former Crown Prince Hamzah bin Al Hussein, and stressed that the kingdom is now “stable and secure.”

Before the king’s speech, the royal court issued a statement indicating that Prince Hassan bin Talal had led efforts to resolve the issue, and had Prince Hamzah sign a statement in which he placed himself in the hands of the king.

Politics | 05.04.2021

Jordan’s Royal Court: Prince Hamzah signs a letter of support for the King

 

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The Los Angeles Times said the threads of what happened seem all too familiar: the traumatic circumstances that follow the death of Royal, reverberating over the years, and family tensions that have been simmering for a generation before exploding in plain sight.

 

Queen Noor with the former Mayor of Cologne Norbert Burger on her visit to Germany in 1988

A love story and complicated accounts

The report argues that it is about a change in the course of the succession, as well as the complex relationship of Queen Noor, of America, with her new homeland, and the memories of the vigilant royals, as well as a torrent of international politics, and the complex politics of the Middle East. And at the heart of all this is a love story.

In this context, the American newspaper quotes Avi Shlaim, Professor Emeritus of International Relations at Oxford University and author of a biography of King Hussein, who described Nour as “very educated, highly intelligent, and remarkably beautiful – and it was not surprising that King Hussein fell into her love.”

The report says that Queen Noor, with her elegance at the age of sixty-nine, appears a somewhat ambiguous figure long after her widowhood between America and Britain: she means what she says, indulges in humanitarian issues, and has never remarried.

Childhood ‘far from emotional’

Back in 1978, Lisa al-Halabi enjoyed a kind of personal property: a wealthy, well-educated, American aristocracy owed to a Lebanese-Syrian immigrant grandfather. The late US President John F. Kennedy appointed her father, Najib Al-Halabi, as head of the Federal Aviation Authority at the time, and then the father became president of “Pan American Airlines”, but Lisa was talking about a childhood life at home far from emotional, and difficult. Then the divorce occurred between her parents in the end.

And all this brought her a composure that sometimes tended to be rigid. Lisa was among the first class in which girls were allowed to study at Princeton University, in 1969. Several of her classmates spoke of a culture in which they felt like strangers, or not taken seriously.

“Even if you don’t know her personally, you’ve heard of her…She has caught everyone’s eye,” said fellow Princeton colleague Marjorie Gengler-Smith. When Lisa Al-Halabi met King Hussein, she had become an accomplished and independent specialist, having studied architecture and urban planning.

The king was a widower at the time, had married three times before her and was 16 years older than her. His third wife, Queen Alia, died in a helicopter crash in 1977. In her 2003 autobiography, Leap to Faith, Queen Noor wrote: “I will not deny that the idea of ​​me becoming his fourth wife, or anyone else, It was disturbing to me.”

Equal partnership

But this marriage resulted in an egalitarian partnership, especially according to territorial and property standards. This partnership lasted until the death of King Hussein (February 7, 1999), which is longer than the previous three marriages of the king combined.

Most Jordanians were initially suspicious of this foreign-born and upbringing woman, who converted from Christianity to Islam, but was determined to win the affection of her new countrymen. She mastered the Arabic language, and the traditions and gestures of Jordan’s conservative culture.

At the same time, Queen Noor sought progressive reforms, including the economic empowerment of Bedouin women, and aroused the astonishment and disapproval of Jordanians as she sat bare-haired behind the king on his motorbike.

But she was bound by tradition. During her husband’s funeral in 1999, the queen appeared, she gave up her cosmetics, wore bright white clothes, and repeatedly tilted her head to mourners, as if she was the one who consoled them.

Abroad, Queen Noor’s charm, like that of Jackie Kennedy, has helped boost Jordan’s image, and with her personality, she has helped shape Jordan’s image as an island of moderation and relative stability, as well as an important ally of Washington.

calm analytical nature

But Queen Noor’s ability to navigate different worlds, who passed on to her four children, may have helped fuel the accusations made by Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, who asserted that Prince Hamzah was working with “foreign parties” to destabilize Jordan.

Although those close to Queen Noor described her as having a calm analytical nature, and able to follow her goals in an organized manner, she might one day be surprised by the crisis of the king’s illness that took his life, and what this means regarding the succession to the throne.

During the last days of his life, King Hussein removed his brother, Prince Al-Hassan bin Talal, from the throne, and assigned it to Prince Abdullah bin Al-Hussein, the king’s son by his second wife (of British origin), Princess Muna.

In a move widely seen as a gift to Queen Noor al-Hussein, the king appointed their son, Prince Hamzah, next in line after Abdullah.

According to the “Los Angeles Times” report, there is no doubt that Queen Noor raised Hamza to qualify him to be king. Observers who have followed developments in the region for a long time believe that Queen Noor may not have expected King Abdullah to become popular and effective during the first years of his rule, as he actually did.

But recent years have been marred by resentment due to the economic crisis and social pressures due to Jordan’s reception of millions of refugees from Iraq and Syria, in addition to the impact of the Corona pandemic.