Queen Rania Al Abdullah—Queen Consort of Jordan

Queen Rania is the wife of the reigning king of Jordan, King Abdullah bin Hussein. She is mostly known for her advocacy in health, education, cross-cultural dialogue, microfinance, youth, and community empowerment. She uses her social media accounts to promote her cause. She personally posts photos on her Instagram account and other contents to her Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

She would’ve been a princess consort had her husband not proclaimed her as queen. She is also a writer who has published several books, being the tribute to her father-in-law, The King’s Gift, as her first. She has received multiple honors from all over the world including Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, Special Class from Germany, and Member Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Seraphim from Sweden.

Early Life and Education

Queen Rania was born Rania Al-Yassin in Kuwait on August 31, 1970. Her father is Faisal Sedki Al-Yassin who worked as a physician while her mother is Ilham Yassin. She comes from a Palestinian family in Tulkarm that had to flee from Kuwait due to the Gulf War in 1991. She has two other siblings who were raised in Tulkarm as well.

She studied at the New English School in Kuwait City and later on studied business administration at the American University in Cairo, Egypt. She has successfully completed her degree in 1991. She then started working briefly in the marketing department of the Rania branch of Citibank. She was then hired by Apple Inc. in Amman.

Personal Life

While working for Apple Inc., her workmate had invited her to join the party being thrown by then-Prince Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein’s sister. When she got there, Queen Rania and King Abdullah II instantly fell in love just like a romantic love story from the movies. In fact, King Abdullah II said before that “The minute Rania walked in, I knew it right there and then it was love at first sight.” Contrary to King Abdullah II, Queen Rania “was a bit wary” because he was the king’s son but, she thinks “he was quite interested, and he pursued it and it kind of happened. It was quick… nobody knew who I was, which is good.” It was only six months after they have met each other that their engagement was announced to the public. They got married on July 10, 1993.

When she turned 40, Queen Rania hosted a lavish party in celebration to the milestone. In line with the event, she had said to Oprah Winfrey that she has “found that I have more confidence; I’m more sure-footed and I don’t fret over the small things. I really want to debunk the whole culture of ‘ageing is bad.’ Instead of trying to fight it, I want to work harder on accepting it and enjoying it because there’s so much to gain.”

Controversies

She has faced the criticism of the 36 tribes of Jordan. They have accused her of stealing from the country among others. They claimed that “The queen is building centers to boost her power and serve her interests, against the will of Jordanians” and has requested for the Queen and her family “to return to the treasury land and farms given to the Yassin family” saying that “The land belongs to the Jordanian people.” However, the royal court has already dismissed the claims.