Queen Noor of Jordan

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Queen Noor of Jordan bigraphy, stories - Queen (1978-99) and Queen Dowager of Jordan (1999-present); philanthropist and activist

Queen Noor of Jordan : biography

23 August 1951 –

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Queen Noor of Jordan () (born Lisa Najeeb Halaby; 23 August 1951) is the widow of King Hussein. As the King’s fourth spouse, she was queen consort of Jordan between 1978 and 1999. Since her husband’s death in 1999, she has been queen dowager of Jordan.

A United States citizen by birth, and of Syrian,, PBS, Faces of America series, with Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 2010. English, and Swedish descent, she acquired Jordanian citizenship and renounced her American citizenship at the time of her marriage. As of 2011, she is president of the United World Colleges movement and an advocate of the anti-nuclear weapons proliferation campaign, Global Zero.

Career

After she graduated, Lisa Halaby moved to Australia, where she worked for a firm that specialized in planning new towns. She became increasingly interested in the Middle East and immediately accepted a job offer from a British architectural firm that had been employed to redesign Tehran, Iran. In 1976 she moved back to the United States. She thought about earning a master’s degree in journalism and starting a career in television production. However, she accepted a job offer from Managing Director of Arab Air Services, which was founded by her father, who was commissioned by the Jordanian government to redesign their airlines. She became Director of Facilities Planning and Design of the airline he founded.

In 1977 she was working for Royal Jordanian Airlines, in which capacity she attended various high-profile social events as the Director of Facilities Planning and Design. This is where she met Hussein of Jordan for the first time on the development of the Queen Alia International Airport. The airport was named after Queen Alia, Hussein’s third wife, who died in a helicopter crash the same year. Halaby and the king became friends while he was still mourning the death of his wife. Their friendship evolved and the couple became engaged in 1978.

Marriage and children

Halaby and King Hussein wed on 15 June 1978 in Amman, becoming his fourth wife and Queen of Jordan.

Upon marriage she accepted Islam as it was her husband’s religion, becoming known as Noor Al-Hussein (which means Light of Hussein). The wedding was a traditional Muslim ceremony. Initially, the new queen was not accepted by the people of Jordan, as she was not of Arab Muslim birth. Although their opinion is thought to have changed as Noor started expressing genuine interest and commitment to her kingdom, the differences were never completely resolved.

Upon marriage, Noor assumed the management of the royal household and three of her stepchildren, Princess Haya bint Al Hussein, Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, and Abir Muhaisen, the children of her husband by Queen Alia. Queen Noor and King Hussein had four children:

  • Prince Hamzah (born 29 March 1980), Crown Prince from 1999 to 2004, who has two daughters
  • Prince Hashim (born 10 June 1981), who has three daughters
  • Princess Iman (born 24 April 1983)
  • Princess Raiyah (born 9 February 1986)

Behind the scenes, Noor was involved in politics, for which she was criticized by fundamentalists. In 1984, she supported her husband when he criticized the Americans for being one-sided in their commitment to Israel, while the Americans criticized her for siding with the Jordanians.

Widowhood

King Hussein died on February 7, 1999, following a long battle with cancer. After his death, his firstborn son, Abdullah, became king and Hamzah became Crown Prince. In a surprise move of 2004, Prince Hamzah was stripped of his title as Jordan’s next in line. On 2 July 2009, King Abdullah II named his eldest son as heir to the throne, ending five years of speculation over his successor.

Though Noor is the queen dowager, she is stepmother to King Abdullah II and thus cannot be classified as queen mother; accordingly she is known as HM Queen Noor of Jordan, as distinct from Abdullah’s wife Queen Rania, who is styled HM The Queen of Jordan. The present King’s mother is Princess Muna al-Hussein, an Englishwoman formerly known as Antoinette Avril Gardiner.