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Jordan fetes King's accession to Throne

June 10th 1999

AMMAN(J. T.) — Jordan on Wednesday celebrated His Majesty King Abdullah II's accession to the Hashemite Throne in a simple but elegant ceremony. Around 100,000 Jordanians thronged Amman's streets, which were bedecked with banners and flags, to greet the King and Her Majesty Queen Rania as their motorcade made its way from Al Baraka Palace west of the capital to Raghadan Palace in the heart of the city.

King Abdullah, dressed in ceremonial white military uniform, and Queen Rania, wearing a long golden dress and a crown that belonged to late Queen Alia, waved to the people who lined the streets and at occasions were reaching for handshakes with the King and Queen.

The King and the Queen were driven in a 1961 Lincoln Continental limousine, which was first used for the wedding of the late King Hussein to Princess Muna in 1961, and also for the June 10, 1993 wedding of King Abdullah and Queen Rania. Twenty red jeeps and motorcycles escorted the limousine, nicknamed Mabroukah (the blessed ) by the late King Hussein. Along the 20-kilometre track, people tossed flowers at the motorcade, women ululated and chants of “Long live Abdullah'' were heard. Tribal leaders and other Jordanians set tents along the route of the motorcade, and giant pictures of the King and Queen looked down as the Royal couple drove through. Military bands played side by side with traditional dancing troupes from across the Kingdom and groups of youths ran alongside the convoy trying to keep up. On arrival at the Palace, King Abdullah was greeted by members of the Royal family and inspected the Guard of Honour before moving to the Throne Chamber to receive well-wishers, after he awarded Queen Rania the highest medal in the land, Al Hussein Ben Ali medal, for her social activities since becoming Queen two months ago. Standing in front of the Throne, the Royal couple then greeted members of the Royal family, and nearly 800 guests, including a number of Gulf princes and the royal couple's own friends. Four months into his reign, King Abdullah, has not only gained his popular support by addressing the country's sensitive issue, but his political skill has gained him international recognition. During extensive Arab and Western tours in the last few months to cement bonds with regional leaders and plead for economic support, the King has surprised many with his political flair and focused agenda, political analysts and diplomats say. Jordanians have hailed his ground-breaking journey to Syria which ended years of animosity and was seen as restoring Amman's damaged Arab ties. The enthronement was arranged as a symbolic event so that future anniversaries of the Monarch's accession to the Throne will not coincide with the anniversary of the late King Hussein.

Queen Rania attends benefit concert for Jordan River Children project

June 13th, 1999

AMMAN (J.T.) — Under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, the Apple Hill Chambers Players on Saturday performed a benefit concert for the Jordan River Children.

The project, established by Queen Rania in 1997, aims to prevent and treat child abuse and exploitation. Jordan River Children, one of four projects of the Jordan River Foundation established in 1995 by the Queen to improve the living standards of underprivileged communities in the Kingdom, set up the first community centre last year, which specifically deals with the problems of child abuse. The proceeds of the dinner concert, organised by the American Women of Amman, will go towards the establishment of the Centre for the Protection and Rehabilitation of Children, Dar Al Amaan.

Earlier on Saturday, Queen Rania visited the Jordan River Foundation's spring collection, “Legacies of the Earth,” sponsored by Fastlink.

Princess Iman celebrates 50th anniversary of SOS Children's Villages in Austria

June 15th, 1999

AMMAN (J.T.) — On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the SOS Children's Villages, HRH Princess Iman Bint Al Hussein on Monday joined in the celebrations in Austria.

Princess Iman, who deputised for Her Majesty Queen Noor, attended a benefit concert for the SOS and visited an SOS village in Inst, Austria.

The first Jordanian SOS Children's Village was inaugurated by the late King Hussein and Queen Noor on May 7,1987 in Amman and due to its success, SOS Kinderdorf International established a second village in Aqaba in 1992. The latter received a Citation for Outstanding Achievement at the 1994 World Habitat Day ceremony.

Plans for a third SOS village in Irbid are already under way. SOS villages, which are located throughout the world, provide family homes for orphaned and abandoned children, who live under the care of “mothers” in a close-knit community.

Queen Noor pledges full support to King Abdullah

June 26, 1999

AMMAN (Agencies ) — Her Majesty Queen Noor on Friday dismissed reports of tension within the Royal family, pledging to stand behind His Majesty King Abdullah and Her Majesty Queen Rania.

In an interview on CNN's Larry King Live, Queen Noor, said she hopes “to be able to be a source of support and counsel for them as they embark on this new stage in their lives.”

“I will continue ... to be as supportive as I can, of course, of King Abdullah's work and also of the efforts that Queen Rania will make in the future,” she said.

Queen Noor, who married King Hussein in 1978 when King Abdullah was 16, said Abdullah is “like a son to me.”

King Abdullah appointed Queen Noor's eldest son Prince Hamzah heir to the Hashemite Throne as soon as he became monarch, in line with King Hussein's dying wish. Speculation on unease within the Royal family began circulating in the world's press after King Abdullah's enthronement ceremony earlier this month, attended neither by Queen Noor nor any of her four children, including the Crown Prince.

They were all out of the country: Queen Noor on a world tour of public appearances, Prince Hamzah training at Britain's Sandhurst Military Academy and the remaining three children at school in the United States.

The Queen maintained that she is committed to Jordan.

“Jordan will remain my home and my base,” she said. Queen Noor also said there was no conflict over King Abdullah's decision to make his wife Rania Jordan's second queen.

“Queen Rania is the wife of the reigning monarch, and I am Queen Noor, the widow of King Hussein, there's no contradiction,” she said.

Queen Noor praised the ease with which King Abdullah succeeded his father after King Hussein appointed him heir in a surprise decision just days before he died from cancer in February.

“It was the only decision and it has enabled a seamless transition of power,” she said.

The Queen said she would continue her environmental and humanitarian work in Jordan and carry forward the campaign against landmines across the world.

Queen Rania urges steps towards poverty elimination

July 01, 1999

AMMAN (Petra) — Her Majesty Queen Rania on Saturday said improving the economic and social situations of Jordan's underprivileged areas is the first step towards combating poverty and unemployment. During a visit to the Prime Ministry, Queen Rania added that establishing income-generating micro-projects for impoverished families will help solve such problems.

The Queen, who met with Prime Minister Abdur-Ra'uf S. Rawabdeh and Planning Minister Rima Khalaf, and was briefed on the social safety package's developments, stressed the importance of intensifying efforts to achieve the four major components of the package and secure necessary funds to meet its economic and social objectives.

Also on Wednesday, Queen Rania met with head of the United States Agency for International Development in Jordan Louis Luck who briefed her on USAID's economic, health, water and housing projects in the Kingdom.

King, Queen attend King Hussein's memorial service at London's cathedral

July 06, 1999

LONDON (R) — Britain, at a memorial service in London's St. Paul's Cathedral, paid tribute on Monday to the late King Hussein as an “enlightened spirit” who bridged national and religious divides. Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, told royalty and politicians gathered for the service that King Hussein had turned his country into “an oasis of moderation, order and harmony in a harsh desert of extremism.”

King Hussein died of cancer in February after a 47-year reign.

The memorial service, held five months to the day since the King was flown home from a U.S. cancer clinic to die, blended Christian and Muslim tradition. It was attended by Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania, Her Majesty Queen Noor, HRH Crown Prince Hamzah, several other members of the Hashemite Royal family, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and at least three former British heads of government.

King Abdullah and Crown Prince Hamzah, recited Koranic verses, choristers sang from the Book of Psalms and Britain's Duke of Kent gave a reading from the New Testament gospel of St. Matthew.

Prince Charles, who has campaigned for greater understanding between Christianity and Islam, said King Hussein's search for a lasting Arab-Israeli peace in his later years had made him a “visionary” and champion of reconciliation.

“King Hussein had the kind of enlightened spirit in harmony with those...who could respect people of other faiths for their piety, even if they did not recognise their theology,” he said.

“It was surely the King's magnanimity and farsightedness that enabled him to overcome and survive the challenges to himself and his country,” Prince Charles added.

The presence of three former British prime ministers, Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Edward Heath, was a sign of King Hussein's long reign.

King Hussein's schooling in Britain and his training as an officer cadet at Britain's Sandhurst Military Academy, forged a lifelong bond with Britain, Prince Charles said.

His background gave him a “wonderful combination of the virtues of a bedouin Arab and...an English gentleman,” Prince Charles said on Monday.

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