Prince Hassan bin Al Talal

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Royal Family of Jordan
Styles of
Prince Hassan of Jordan
Reference style His Royal Highness
Spoken style Your Royal Highness
Alternative style Sir

Prince Hassan bin Talal (Arabic: حسن بن طلال) was born on March 20, 1947 in Amman, Jordan.

Contents

[edit] Family

He is the son of the late King Talal and Queen Zein al-Sharaf. He was the brother of King Hussein, Crown Prince from 1965 to 1999 and is uncle to the present King Abdullah II of Jordan.

[edit] Education

Prince Hassan was educated first in Amman. He then attended Summer Fields School, Harrow in England as well as Christ Church, Oxford University, where he received a BA Hons in Oriental Studies followed by an MA. Prince Hassan is fluent in Arabic, English, French and German. He has a working knowledge of Turkish and Spanish, and did his university studies in Hebrew. [1]

[edit] Marriage and children

In 1968, Prince Hassan married Kolkata-born Sarvath Ikramullah, daughter of Pakistani politician Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah, who he first met in London in 1958, when they were both youngsters. [2]

They have four children together:

[edit] Career and controversy

From 1965 to 1999, he served as Crown Prince of Jordan. There are many theories in relation to why King Hussein made the succession change that he did, that instead enabled his son Abdullah to become the ruler of Jordan after his death. Some of these theories include the following:

Certain people speculate that the late King's decision was influenced by his illness and its treatment. Others believe that Abdullah was his actual choice, but that his part English ethnicity was an obstacle to the original plan, during the time that he was born. [3] Some also think that, due to the number of assassination attempts on his life, King Hussein had worried about the potential risk of leaving Jordan in the hands of a child and thus, only temporarily handed the title over to his brother. [citation needed]

King Hussein, terminally ill with cancer, made Abdullah (who was then 37 years old) successor to the throne on January 24, 1999. It is believed that the ailing King wanted his direct descendants on the throne, instead of his brother's. [4]

Hassan might also have been regarded as too liberal, as he's known for his liberal views. In the World religious conference in Kyoto in 2006, Prince Hassan accused the Arab leaders of "stealing billions from their people in order to waste it on weapons to fight against Israel, which they will never defeat". He also warned that Iran must not have nuclear weapons. (Hebrew)

[edit] Organizations

The following includes some of the organizations that Prince Hassan belongs to and/or founded.

Member of the:

  • Board of Directors of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, Washington, DC (2002)
  • Executive Committee of the International Crisis Group
  • Informal Advisory Group to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
  • International Board of the Council on Foreign Relations

Moderator of the:

  • World Conference of Religions for Peace

Chairman of the:

  • Policy Advisory Commission for the World Intellectual Property Organisation (1999–2002)
  • Co-Chair of the Independent Bureau for Humanitarian Issues
  • Co-Chair of the Independent Commission on International Humanitarian Issues (ICIHI)

President of the:

Established the:

  • Al al-Bait University in Mafraq
  • Hashemite Aid and Relief Agency
  • Islamic Scientific Academy
  • Triannual Conferences on the History and Archaeology of Jordan

Founded the:

  • Royal Scientific Society (1970)
  • Annual Bilad Al-Sham Conference (1978)
  • Al al-Bait Foundation (1980)
  • Arab Youth Forum (1988)

[edit] External links

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