Jordan’s Crown Prince Is Getting Married. Here’s What We Know About the Lavish Royal Wedding
For the first time in almost 30 years, a future King of Jordan’s Royal Hashemite Court will marry in a lavish wedding ceremony on June 1.
Crown Prince Hussein—the 28-year-old eldest son and heir of King Abdullah II and Queen Rania—is set to wed Rajwa Khaled bin Musaed bin Saif bin Abdulaziz Al Saif, 29, after announcing their engagement in August.
The Jordanian royal family, known as the Hashemites, have ruled Jordan since 1921—first as emirs of the Emirate of Transjordan under a British protectorate and later as kings after the country gained independence from Britain in 1946. The Hashemites hail from the House of Hashem that ruled Mecca from as early as the 10th century, and King Abdullah II is a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.
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The last time a Hashemite wedding of this scale took place was in 1997 when Abdullah II, then a prince, married Rania Al-Yassin, born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents. The ruling couple share three other children: Princess Iman, 26, who married Jameel Alexander Thermiotis, a Venezuelan venture capitalist of Greek descent in a smaller ceremony in March; Princess Salma, 22; and Prince Hashem, 18.
As part of festivities last week, Queen Rania hosted an opulent henna party for her future daughter-in-law and hundreds of women at the Madareb Bani Hashem, where she delivered a glowing welcome speech.
“I’ll never forget how happy his majesty and I were when Al Hussein told us he wanted to marry Rajwa,” Rania told guests, according to People. “She is the perfect answer to all my prayers for him. May you always be each other’s source of happiness and support.” She also said she believes her father-in-law, King Hussein—who was proclaimed king at age 16 in 1952 and reigned until his death in 1999—would be proud of the way she has raised his grandson.
As Hussein and Rajwa’s wedding day approaches, here’s everything we know so far about the event.
What to know about Crown Prince Hussein
Crown Prince Hussein is a captain in the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army and a graduate of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, England, as well as Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
In 2015, Hussein became the youngest ever person to chair a U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss how young people can confront extremism and terrorism. He also addressed the U.N. General Assembly in 2017, and has supported his father on diplomatic overseas visits including meetings with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in May 2022, and again in February.
The royal notably did not grow up as heir to the throne; Abdullah stripped his half-brother Prince Hamzah—the former heir apparent—of his title in 2004. In April 2001, Hamzah issued a video message claiming to be under house arrest for calling out corruption among Jordan’s leaders. In March 2022, the royal court released a letter claimed to be written by Hamzah, seeking his brother’s forgiveness. The royal has rarely been seen in public since.
Who is Rajwa Al-Saif?
Rajwa, a Saudi Arabian national, is an architect and the youngest daughter of Saudi businessman Khalid bin Musaed bin Saif bin Abdulaziz al-Saif. She has three older siblings: Faisal, Nayef, and Dana.
Rajwa has her own royal connections as her mother is part of the Al Sudairi family, Saudi Arabia’s ruling family. Rajwa is the second cousin of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
She studied at Syracuse University in New York and the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. She worked at an architectural firm in Los Angeles before moving back to Riyadh, the Saudi capital.
Rajwa became engaged to Hussein in August at her family home but little else is known about how the couple met. Since then, the soon-to-be crown princess has undertaken a number of royal engagements including a prominent role in Princess Iman’s wedding.
What will the wedding consist of?
As Rajwa celebrated at her henna party, thousands of young Jordanians attended a free tribute concert titled “We Rejoice in Hussein” at Amman International Stadium. The show featured performances from prominent Arab musicians such as Tamer Hosny, Ahmed Saad, Ragheb Alama, Zain Awad, and Diana Karazon.
“For his excellency the beloved crown prince let’s hear a huge round of applause,” Hosny told stadium crowds, according to the Associated Press. The artists are said to have volunteered their services as a gift to Jordanian citizens. The wedding day has been marked with its own calligraphy logo featuring the words “we rejoice” in Arabic.
The night before the wedding, on May 31, over 4,000 guests will join the royal court for a dinner party that will showcase the culture of Jordan’s Hashemite Arab rulers. Among those will be high-ranking officials, business and military figures, and representatives from across Jordanian society. The event will be broadcast live.
The Islamic marriage ceremony is set to take place at Zahran Palace in Amman, where the couple will sign marriage contracts before two witnesses. Guests will then head to the Al Husseiniya Palace for the wedding party and banquet. So far, few details are known about what the bride will be wearing.
A 10 km (6 mi.) royal procession is set to take place between the two venues, as part of the country’s Hashemite traditions dating back to 1946. Seventy-one members of the Royal Guard, who will likely wear red scarves, will lead a procession of around 20 red land rovers and motorcycles. Public transportation will be free for all citizens who wish to watch the procession in person.
Who will attend?
Hussein and Rajwa’s high profile nuptials will see a number of global royals traveling to Jordan to witness the historic event. Among those invited are the King and Queen of Malaysia; King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía of Spain; the King and Queen of the Netherlands; Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark; Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland, Prince Sébastien of Luxembourg; Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway; Hisako, Princess Takamado, and her daughter, Princess Tsuguko of Takamado of Japan.
U.S. First Lady Jill Biden has confirmed her attendance just weeks after her attendance at the coronation of King Charles in London alongside King Abdullah and Queen Rania. There is also speculation that Prince William and Kate Middleton could attend the ceremony, as the couple share a fondness for the nation and even took their children there in 2021.