| The Perils of Dating A Royal Divorcee |
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| Written by Dr. Janice Seto | |
| Monday, 22 January 2007 | |
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Page 3 of 5  Throughout the King's third and fourth marriages, it is understood he maintained good relations with Princess Muna in Jordan.As a widow, Queen Noor could have expected to enjoy a similar standing in the future new court of King Abdullah II and Queen Rania as another queen consort, the Belgian Queen Fabiola. The Spaniard noblewoman did not return to her homeland after Baudoin II died suddenly in 1993. Instead she remains within the centre of the family, now headed by her brother-in-law King Albert II — a royal version of Jaqueline Bouvier Kennedy to the assassinated President's brother, Bobby Kennedy. However, shortly before his death from cancer in 1999, King Hussein changed the succession. After 36 years, his brother Hassan was no longer crown prince. Instead the role was passed to King Hussein’s eldest son with Muna, Prince Abdullah. Reading the admittedly complex family tree, it seemed to many that this change was conditional on Noor's eldest son being the successor to Abdullah. This would mean Abdullah and Rania's own son, as well as the present monarch's full brother, Muna's other son Prince Faisal, would be overlooked in the line of succession. However, King Abdullah is his own man and so it is that he appointed his half-brother Prince Hamzah as his heir upon his ascension. 
King Abdullah has spoken of a new generation and a new way of doing things. His wife, Queen Rania — an advocate of poor disenfranchised women who has even appeared on the American chat show Oprah — as well as his brother by Princess Muna and his half-brother by Queen Alia have all been projected as the new face of the Jordanian Royal Family. 
Today, Noor spends most of her time in Washington, DC, although she continues to be a regular visitor to her adopted homeland of Jordan. Meanwhile, Princess Muna, as the King’s mother, has increased her visibility within the country as well as internationally. She is, essentially, de facto Queen Mother. Another popular ex is to be found in Scandinavia. |
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