shelley said:
Queen Dina is very much a Hashemite, with as illustrious a background as King Hussein. This makes their daughter Alia a Hashemite twice over.
Princess Dina, who is gorgeous 'tho have not seen recent photo--anyone have one? is indeed Hashemite through and through. Confusion could result as KH met "the beautiful Dina, a distant cousin and Hashemite princess" while in Cairo visiting President Nasser in 1955.
"Princess Dina and KH knew each other very well due to family links. Dina's great-grandfather had preceded Sharif Hussein as amir of the Hejaz. She was a great-grand-niece of Sharif Hussein. By some accounts, the proposal came out of the blue and Dina stalled saying she wanted to be a teacher and writer. She was 26 and had a post-graduate degree in social science from Bedford College for Women, a part of London University."
"On returning home, she began to teach English at Cairo University and to take an interest in social science in Cairo. She had been brought up strictly but was urbane and sophisticated. Dina wondered if marriage to KH would be the right thing for him--and her."
This is interesting. Dina did not attend corronation of KH and his cousin, King Feisal, in 1953. The events were to be held one month apart allowing all to attend both events. For some reason, things were changed and both were held on May 2nd. Thus, family had to choose. Dina, while close to the Amman branch of the dynasty, was very, very close to Prince Feisal's mother and did not want to offend her. So she attended neither. This offended Queen Zein (I thought QZ arranged marriage but I was wrong).
"Dina displayed her independent mind" and was, at one point, she heard KH suspected her of being associated with a plot against him after she visited Jerusalem.
"Why did KH marry Dina? Perhaps his anxiety over the survival of the Hashemites, bearing in mind his grandfather's fate. Hence, his need for a wife with impeccable Hashemite credentials."
"Eighteen months after the wedding, Dina traveled to Cairo to see a relative who was seriously ill. There, she was visited by the Jordanian ambassador who had a thick letter. Dina wondered what it was and assumed photos from the King. Instead, it contained a long letter from KH explaining marriage was not working and ending it. That was it. Dina remained in Cairo."
The King later said it was a sad and difficult period and that he and Dina enjoyed many things, like dancing together. But she was very interested in social issues at that point while he was focused on survival. In the end, KH's daughter, Alia, was 3 months old at the time. He declined to let Dina see her for six years. It took Dina being hospitalized for the King to contact her and say it was ridiculous for her not to see her daughter, then being raised by Muna. Dina was welcomed back to Amman and later described joy when Alia greeted her with the word "mummy." Since then, KH permitted and encouraged a strong mother-daughter relationship.
I think Muna played a major role in this reunion. I believe she convinced KH keeping a young child from her mother was not good for all concerned. I think Muna was a highly sympathetic, kind woman who understood situation well. It speaks highly of her.
The passages are from the wonderful book called "Life on the Edge: King Hussein" by Roland Dallas.