Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Queen Rania

Just like Hamad, Queen Rania's husband King Abdullah, was not destined to be a regent. The post of Heir Apparent in Jordan had been held by his uncle Prince Hasan from 1965 until 1999. On his deathbed, the veteran King Hussein appointed Abdullah, his oldest son, as Heir Apparent. And when Hussein died in February 1999, Abdullah replaced him as the fourth King of Jordan. When Rania (born in 1970) met the young prince in 1993, she was only 22 years old, have recently moved to Jordan from Kuwait with her Palestinian parents, due to the second Gulf War.

She studied business administration at the American University in Cairo, and worked at Citibank and Apple Computers before obtaining a degree in management from HEC University of Paris. A commoner like Moza, she married a royal who was never destined to become king - until Hussein died in 1993.

In her own words, Queen Rania described the situation by saying: "Following the sad passing of His Late Majesty King Hussein, and the ascension of His Majesty King Abdullah, we were faced with enormous responsibilities and challenges. Fortunately, we had had a taste of public life in our roles as Prince and Princess, but still the adjustments to King and Queen were considerable. In fact, we are still learning. I think we always will."

Since becoming Queen - the youngest in the world in 1999 - Rania has equally revolutionized Jordanian society and enchanted the world with her eloquence and elegance. Representing a tribal yet modernizing society - just like Qatar - the Queen of Jordan has been awarded the honorary rank of colonel in the Jordanian Army by King Abdullah.

She has also been ranked as third most beautiful woman in the world by Harper's & Queen Magazine, and number 80 in Forbes' list of Most Powerful Women in the World. She too has toured the world speaking on behalf of Jordan and defending women's rights in the Arab and Muslim World. She made world headlines by appearing on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 2006, breaking stereotypes of Arab women.

Domestically, she is active in promoting education reforms, mandatory English at schools, and micro-finance for entrepreneurs with ideas, but no money to implement them. In 2003, she was elected to the Board of Directors of the

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