princess Haya talking about Abir :
http://www.queenalia.org/QASite_content.html
Abir was my mother's first child. My mother was four months pregnant with me when She adopted Abir. I found an interview explaining the circumstances that led to Abir becoming my older sister… "It all started" She said "When I had problems with my wisdom teeth in July and could not join His Majesty on His visit to London. In the King Hussein Medical Centre where I had my teeth removed, the nurses told me about a little girl who survived a tragic accident. She and her father were her family's only survivors when their home on the edge of Amman airport, was destroyed by a Soviet Topilov aircraft that crashed on it. Her mother, brothers and sisters were all killed in the accident. It was a miracle that she survived. When they took her out from under the rubble and the aeroplane itself, they thought she was also dead. The poor girl was lying there for four hours when they realized that she was alive. They took her to the hospital. She was all covered with sand and dust so they had to clean her up first. "When I first saw her, she was still very sick". Mama spoke to Abir's father. He told her that he could not bring up Abir by himself and he was going to put her in an orphanage. My mother asked him if She could take care of her. He agreed and was so touched that he cried on Her shoulder for two hours, in the hospital.
Mama fell in love with Abir straightaway. At her request, specialists flew in from around the world to try and save her life. "She would not respond, no matter what they did". "They thought she would never survive but she had a strong heart… I don’t know… I just carried her in my arms until the day she started to get better and I was able to take her home. I promised myself not to let anything hurt her again. When His Majesty came from London, He found me crying with relief and holding a baby in my arms. His Majesty and I have had her sleeping in our bed, trying to give her our strength and hoping that our love will keep her alive. She had been very sick for the first five weeks; she had measles and pneumonia. Then she started to improve slowly. "Now she is stable and she has her own bedroom next to ours, the same bedroom we prepared for the baby that I am expecting". When asked if Abir would move to another bedroom once the baby is born, She answered, "Of course, not, God blessed us with our first child and that child is Abir. Her sister or brother will be brought up loving her as if she was my own flesh and blood. She will never be taken away from me". In another interview with my mother, She was asked about my impending birth and how She felt about having Her first child; Her answer was "I already had my first child".
When my mother died, Abir and I took shifts holding Ali at night. Sometimes, I would wake up in those days, which were like a long nightmare and we only slept when sleep was kind enough to come, only to find her sitting over me blinking her tired red eyes from crying and lack of sleep. I would ask her "What are you doing up? Why aren't you sleeping?" She would hug me and say "Mama watched over me and I am going to watch over you forever, the same way she did to me".
Abir has grown into a beautiful young woman who would have made my mother proud of her. She is incredibly intelligent, witty and one of the most tender and thoughtful people I have ever known. Her heart is so full of love and affection. She has spent much of her time helping orphans, whom she says were not so fortunate as she was. She completed a Masters Degree in counselling and now works with children and young people, dealing with their recruitments for Scholarships in American Universities.
I smiled when I read how Abir fought for her own life when she was only six months old. Reading about it in my mother's own words made me understand one thing that had always amazed me, about Abir. She is never bitter and does not dwell over her losses. She is always grateful for what God gave her. She lost her own mother, then mine, then Maureen our Nanny, then my father and yet she always smiles and thanks God for what she has. My mother would have been proud to see how much dignity and compassion her first child has even after all the unhappiness fate has thrown her way.
(no wonder how Ali feels when he reads his mum's diary 
I meant that traditionally it was outlawed (and carried stigmata) and the family name could not be bequeathed to the adopted Child. 
