Prince Hassan bin Al Talal

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Royal Family of Jordan

*already part of the family but moved to reflect her now married position
Styles of
Prince Hassan of Jordan
Reference style His Royal Highness
Spoken style Your Royal Highness
Alternative style Sir

Prince Hassan bin Talal (Arabic: الحسن بن طلال) was born on March 20, 1947 in Amman, Jordan as a member of the Jordanian royal family.

Contents

[edit] Family

He is the son of King Talal and Queen Zein al-Sharaf. He is the brother of the late 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, Urdu, 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.

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. [2] 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]

Some regard Hassan as being more independent from Western-US influence than the current king and see King Hussein's sudden decision as a result of US influence, which happened during King Hussein's hospitalization in America before his death.[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. [3]

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.

[edit] Organizations

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

Member of the:

  • Advisory Board of think tank Gold Mercury International, London, UK
  • 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:

Founded the:

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

[edit] Abraham Geiger Award

The Abraham Geiger Award 2008 is conferred upon HRH Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan as a voice for global sustainability, reconciliation and interreligious understanding. HRH will receive the 2008 Abraham Geiger Award in commemoration of the great liberal thinker of Judaism, Abraham Geiger (1810-1874). The award ceremony will be held in Berlin on March 4, 2008. Prince Hassan follows in the footsteps of Cardinal Karl Lehmann, Alfred Grosser, Emil Fackenheim and Susannah Heschel, past recipients of the Award.

Honouring the President Emeritus of the World Conference of Religions for Peace underlines Prince Hassan's courage in defending pluralism, promoting understanding among different cultures and enhancing dialogue between Jews, Muslims and Christians. The Prince's efforts to promote understanding between the Islamic and Western Worlds are crucial at a time when we seem to be drifting apart, with perceived differences appearing to overwhelm the many things we have in common, both culturally and religiously.


[edit] External links

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Niwano Peace Prize laureates

Hélder Câmara (1983:) · Homer A. Jack (1984:) · Zhao Pu Chu (1985:) · Philip A. Potter (1986:) · World Muslim Congress (1987:) · Etai Yamada (1989:) · Norman Cousins (1990:) · Hildegard Goss-Mayr (1991:) · A. T. Ariyaratne (1992:) · Neve Shalom ~ Wahat as-Salam (1993:) · Paulo Evaristo Arns (1994:) · M. Aram (1995:) · Marii Hasegawa (1996:) · Corrymeela Community (1997:) · Maha Ghosananda (1998:) · Community of Sant'Egidio (1999:) · Kang Won Yong (2000:) · Elias Chacour (2001:) · Samuel Ruiz García (2002:) · Scilla Elworthy (2003:) · Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (2004:) · Hans Küng (2005:) · Rabbis for Human Rights (2006:) · Cheng Yen (2007:) · Prince Hassan bin Al Talal (2008:)