Succession issues in the Royal Family of Jordan

[Cassy]

Thanks for the link, Cassy.

Funnily enough I've heard similar stories about Sarvath and Hassan, not from Jordanian sources, but from Pakistani individuals.

intelligent people might've learned something from this situation, but i guess not.

 

[Falconer]

Mouasher's book shows why the line of succession had to be changed. King Hussein did not like what he was seeing under his brother's stewardship and decided to take a chance on his eldest son. The other two were not in any way correcting each other's mistakes and formed an unhealthy partnership for the country.

 

[bekalc]

I think that if Hassan wanted to be King. He should have made the decision not to marry and have children. I think that if Hassan had remained childless, than King Hussein probably would have been content to let experienced Hassan be King, and let his son be Crown Prince and learn from him.

I think the issue was really who succeeds after Hassan, and let me ask you do really think that it was fair for Hussien sons to be passed over in favor of Rashid? I don't. None of Hussien's sons did anything to deserve that. It was especially unfair in Abdullah's case because when he was born, he was Crown Prince. So when you think about it, they were taking away the guy's BIRTHRIGHT.

It sounds like it was always made clear that Hussien still wanted his sons to be in succession... So if Hassan really wanted to be king, he should have encouraged a constitutional ammendment to ensure that one happened, OR remained single. Given that there was talk when Ali was born, that Ali would become heir apparanet when he was older, and later the same with Hamzah it's possible that Prince Hassan was always told that he might be passed over again.

Here's the deal though I think that King Hussien deserves most of the blame for this mess. He could have and should have made Abdullah Crown Prince, when Abdullah was older....Yes, there was the whole his mother was British, but for what reason than was Hussien later trying to prop up Hamzah was born to an American mother? It sounds like King Hussien was playing the game of pleasing the wife... He's married to Alia, yes Alia, Ali will be King. Then, he's married to Noor, Yes Noor Hamzah will be King. This in my opinion is wrong and unfair...

It's wrong that Abdullah should have to loss his birthright because Dad is in love with a new woman...It also sets up brother against brother and creates hurt feelings where there should be on. For example in Britian, Will is the Heir, Harry is the Spare. But Will is the Heir because he was born older, not because Daddy favors him over his brother.

The thing is though that I think the issue was that King Hussein may have wanted to make Hamzah the heir, but that would have needed a Constitutional ammendment. So I think his choice was one of his brothers, or Abdullah. And Abdullah was the only one who had power to make Hamzah King. Personally, I think it's a ridiculous that King Hussein would even ask or suggest that Abdullah set aside his own son for Hamzah's sake.

I just think Abdullah really SHOULD have been Crown Prince all along. But King Hussein should have made Abdullah Crown Prince 15 years earlier than he did. Then Abdullah could have gotten the experience and there would have been less hard feelings all around.

 

[Princess Mahala]

i agree with you a lot bekalc but in britans different becaus in jordan the king actualy rules and has more important roles. also middle eastern rules differntly i think because you see it in other s countrys as well, passing the role down from brother to brother, and skiping the eldest son.... as for the king , i think he was just caught in an akward place and then has to make drastic desision too fast because of his ilness, i think that even had he made it for a few more years then prince hassan still would'nt haved been king. whatever the case king abdullah is king now and i think the position from him to his sons all fair game but maybe it still just hurts alot of peoples because of what happens to hamzah. ive just wondern if people in jordan dwells still on it.

btw heres a link to the kings book: uneasy lies the head
you can download it and reads about at the end where king hussein talks about his marrying princess muna and abdullah as crown prince. its real great to see what hes feeling then, and before his last two marrages and happenings afterwards. i wonder did he make any update or have another book made?

 

[White Princess]

Speaking of succession, shall prince Hussein (King Abdullah II's first son) be the next crown prince?

 

[Princess Mahala]

probly most likely. i dont see it being any other way, but well have wait for the anouncements then i guess that cant be too long since hes gettng older and nows probly more considerable to be the heir..

 

[White Princess]

I guess the King will wait a few years 'till his son gets eighteen, then he'll name him Crown Prince.

 

[Menarue]

I had a look in Amazon at the book "Heavy Lies the Head" by King Hussein and by the sound of it, it is already a collector´s item, some second hand fetching $500 dollars so I was very grateful for the kind person (sorry I can´t remember who) gave the link to the on line book, I read it there. Very interesting. Thanks again.

 

[Rossina]

I guess the King will wait a few years 'till his son gets eighteen, then he'll name him Crown Prince.

May be before or after that .......

 

[Little_star]

I don't think they are likely to announce Prince Hussein as CP until his 18th birthday, at the earliest. Queen Rania has said several times in interviews that she wants Hussein to have as "normal" a childhood as possible without any extra pressure.

This is what she said in an interview in Hello in May

"There is no talk of being a king, or entering a political life. That is not an option at this stage. He needs to work on pursuing a carer, be it a miliatary career or a profession. If destiny takes him in a different place, we'll take care of it then. But even talk now is counter-productive. He's too young. It's unfair. He would miss out on things that he needs to go through right now: friends, building relationships, working hard, having fun."

 

[shrifia]

the problam of the succession in Jordan is constitutional,the the Jordanian Constitution is not clear about who should be crown prince one of the king brothers or sons.
i guess that eveybody know that Prince Hussein will be crown prince after Hamzha,personally i think it's question of time.

 

[White Princess]

I truly hope that any son of Queen Noor become King. I really don't like her.

 

[iowabelle]

I was puzzled when I heard (maybe I'm mistaken) that King Abdullah's Arabic isn't very good and that teaching him Arabic wasn't made a priority.

I wonder why King Hussein didn't make this a priority of his children's education, especially those born of native English-speaking mothers. I would think it would strengthen the qualifications of any heir, especially since the Royal Family claims to be descended from Mohammed and Islam is so closely tied to government in the Middle East.

 

[shrifia]

King Abdullah is famous by his poor arabic,and it's very true that learing arabic is not priority at least to him and his siblingsnI son't know for the new generation in JRF.thete is a book of Princess relative to jordanian family in this book she said that official language in the Jordanian Place is english.

 

[iowabelle]

I can see that learning English or French would be important for diplomacy ... but I would think that learning the official language of your nation is essential to being a well-educated person, particularly if there's a chance you might wind up in a leadership role. And like I said, in a country where religion plays such an important part in government, having a good grasp of Arabic would be important in reading the Koran and understanding the culture around you.

I read in Queen Noor's book that she emphasized Arabic to her children, but I am still puzzled by King Hussein's lack of emphasis on this for all of his sons. Maybe the emphasis on a English-based education was a result of the long periods of time that King Hussein spent away from Jordan when he was young?

 

[shrifia]

Maybe the emphasis on a English-based education was a result of the long periods of time that King Hussein spent away from Jordan when he was young?

perhaps iowabelle,maybe it's somthing to do with the different cultural background of the mothers,King Hussein married serval time from women from different culture....
during their childrenhood the children like King Abdullah spend a long time outside Jordan that's another reason maybe.

 

[Princess Mahala]

I can see that learning English or French would be important for diplomacy ... but I would think that learning the official language of your nation is essential to being a well-educated person, particularly if there's a chance you might wind up in a leadership role. And like I said, in a country where religion plays such an important part in government, having a good grasp of Arabic would be important in reading the Koran and understanding the culture around you.

I read in Queen Noor's book that she emphasized Arabic to her children, but I am still puzzled by King Hussein's lack of emphasis on this for all of his sons. Maybe the emphasis on a English-based education was a result of the long periods of time that King Hussein spent away from Jordan when he was young?

thats true shrifia but most of his kids have spent alot of times study abroad but then also i think that the queen noor was more into the arabic cultures and language even before she become the queen so maby thats why her familys more fluent. also i think that when you dont know anther language to good then you just speak the ones you know ovbiously so he, king abdullah, grows up spaeking english to his mother and probly friends to outside the country. since he was taken away from being crown prince there was probly not very much need, at least theyd thought, for him to learn it. like his kids probly speaks english at home because or their father but then picks up things here and there because of school and queen rania. it depends on who your talk to also.


there are links on anther forums that has also some links for king husseins funeral and seccesions. it have king abdullah speaking on the day they anounced the kings death, and even i dont speak arabic and i think i could tell its not very good lol. but theres newr videos ive seen of him speaking now and its much better. atleast to me,.lol.

 

[MARG]

I find the notion that the JRF has not ensured that all it's members were fluent in their own language absolutely unbelievable.

What an insult to their subjects . . . . . . we'll rule over you but can't spare the time to learn your language. This is just plain arrogant as they were all in an enviable position to become fluently bi-lingual by immersion within the home let alone at a foreign University.

It indicates an incredibly short-sighted approach to the diplomatic position of Jordan in the middle east.

 

[shelley]

This does not apply to all the " younger " members of the family. Princess Alia Al Hussein and Prince Hamzah certainly speak perfectly fluent Arabic, as do the children of Prince Mohammed, Prince Hassan and Princess Basma. I am not sure about Prince Hamzah's direct siblings as they were all educated in the US from a young age, but Prince Hamzah and Prince Rashid both completed their primary education in Jordan berfore going onto Harrow School in the UK, as did their fathers before them.

 

[MARG]

Really good to hear that the "younger" family members are not so handicapped. However, all those that have responsibilies of ruling or representing their country should be severely reprimanded and sentenced to at least 3 months total language immersion! (Oh well, I can dream!)

 

[iowabelle]

Have to agree with MARG. I mean, it's not inconceivable that one or more heirs might meet with misfortune, so it would be wise to prepare them. (The same thing infuriates me about the British Royal Family when I hear that Harry's not being prepped... after all, their RF has a tradition of the second son becoming the next monarch.) And the Jordanian princes would make better prepared ambassadors to the Muslim world if they could communicate fluently in Arabic.

 

[Little_star]

His Arabic is much better now and that can be seen when he gives speeches imo. I remember when he first became king he and Rania did a lot of joint duties and some people said it was because she acted as a "translator" for him, thus making it easier when meeting people.

I do think in some respects King Hussein neglected certain aspects of his childrens' upbringing and Abdullah's poor Arabic is one example.

 

[Princess Mahala]

just my little opinions but i think that kh and munas union was realy just love and not very much more formalities, especily becaus she also just did not want to becom queen, but even then she was learning arabic its says in the book. after the divorce it was probly easyier for abdullah to be with his mother and english family more then with his father, but not sayin he couldnt be but it was juts probly a lot of what haapend, also happen to peoples in those situations. and again qnoor seems more in to arbic and so that could translates to her teaching her kids more or atleast wanting them to know more. and thentheres also what and where peopls are like i know tht p.badiya (?) and munas famliy sounds very english, and noors is more american/arabic accnets maybe they more 'in-tuned' with it.. lol

 

[Little_star]

and again qnoor seems more in to arbic and so that could translates to her teaching her kids more or atleast wanting them to know more. and thentheres also what and where peopls are like i know tht p.badiya (?) and munas famliy sounds very english, and noors is more american/arabic accnets maybe they more 'in-tuned' with it.. lol

I think Noor realised early on that she needed to immerse herself in everything Arabic to consolidate her position within Jordan.

 

[MARG]

I think the world in general did not seem to understand the advantages let alone the necessity for being bi or multi-lingual. The remains of the English Empire still remained in the upper classes and Royalty of countries who had dealings with the Empire.

Those days have long passed, but it is only now we see an almost "lost" generation of middle-aged royalty who fail to speak their own languages with confidence. Thankfully those days have gone as is illustrated by the age spread of King Abdullah's siblings, who have been taught to embrace their both their culture and their heritage and are thus, multi-lingual.

 

[shelley]

Some of the older generation of the Royal Family were multi-lingual, such as the late Queen Zein and King Talal who both spoke excellent Arabic, Turkish, French and English. In the next generation, Prince Hassan, Princess Basma, Princess Wijdan all speak excellent Arabic, excellent accentless English and very fluent French. I think they all understand if not speak a fair amount of Turkish as well. Prince Hassan also speaks German and often has given speeches and interviews in French and German, as well as of course in Arabic and English. The late King spoke superb Arabic but his English was heavily accented and his French only rudimentary. I do not know if he spoke Turkish. Princess Muna only spoke English at the time of her marriage and learnt Arabic as a second language afterwards. Most of the other princesses who have married into the family speak at least three languages.

 

[Humera]

All right everyone, let's move on...

 

[Kleio]

Three years later... Here I ago... About the language.. this is something I will never understand. It should be forbidden to be the king of anywhere if you don't speak fluently the language of your countrymen. It's terrible. We are not in the Middle Ages or in the XIXth century (when I know this used to happen). We are in the XXI century and if they can go to Massachussets to study they can also learn Arabic! I do not speak Arabic but I've read in 1999 KA's Arabic was not really fluent... How's that possible? And I think the same about Queen Noor: how can you be the Queen in a country for twenty one years and not learning the language... In my opinion, that's a lack of respect. Queen Sofia was not born in Spain but she speaks Spanish (with a foreign accent, right, but she speaks fluently...) Then, Queen Noor can say in her book that his grandfather or whoever was Arabic and bla, bla, bla... You are what you act... How can you pretend you are proud of a culture if you don't speak the language? Fortunately, their children didn't do the same (specially Hamzah...) And about KA, the same, no matter if his mother is English...He is a Jordanian! And he had to wait to be king to learn properly the language of his ancestors!!!!! That's not normal...

 

[life84]

NO. It was actually the King's biggest mistake when he put his eldest son as a successor. Abdullah is not smart at all and his lack of politics experience is leading the country to hell. King Hussein should have chosen somebody else but not abdullah