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The Jordanian Royal Hashemite Court announced the start of Jordan’s official celebrations of the wedding of the country’s Crown Prince, Prince Hussein bin Abdullah II, and Ms. Rajwa Khaled Al-Saif, starting today, Wednesday, for two days.

A statement issued by the Jordanian Royal Hashemite Court said that Jordan’s King Abdullah II will hold a dinner in Bani Hashem’s racks at the Royal Hashemite Court today, Wednesday, on this occasion, attended by more than 4,000 invited members of Jordanian society.

The banquet will include paragraphs highlighting the diversity and originality of Jordanian heritage, such as poetry, singing and songs. On the other hand, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Jordanian monarch sent a speech regarding the nature of the occasion, in which the celebrations continue until Friday evening.

Prince Hussein is the eldest son of King Abdullah II, and he was born in Amman on June 28, 1994. A royal decree was issued on July 2, 2009, naming him Crown Prince, ending the period of vacancy. Constitutional since 2004.

And it was announced last year in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, about Prince Hussein’s engagement to Saudi Arabia, Rajwa Al Saif, the youngest daughter of Mr. Khalid bin Musaed bin Saif bin Abdulaziz Al-Saif, and Ms. Azza bint Nayef Abdul Aziz Ahmed Al-Sudairi, and holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Syracuse University. » in New York, USA.

The prince adheres to the traditions of the Jordanian wedding

It was remarkable that Prince Al-Hussein bin Abdullah maintained the traditions of the Jordanian wedding, which he started by responding to the invitation of comrades-in-arms to a (summer evening) held by the Jordanian Armed Forces (the Arab Army). amidst the revelers.

Queen Rania Al Abdullah also hosted a traditional henna ceremony and dinner, which was attended by more than 500 invitees from all over the Kingdom. The ceremony witnessed various performances by Jordanian artists, musicians and folkloric performance groups. The party featured henna artists, who presented unique designs to the guests using temporary natural henna dye. The henna ceremony is an ancient tradition in the Middle East and is believed to bring blessings to the couple.

According to Jordanian customs, King Abdullah II will host tonight a royal dinner for more than 4,000 Jordanians, where “Mansaf” food will be served, which is the traditional and most famous national dish in Jordan and has been included on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage. Also, the dinner party tonight is a Jordanian tradition for male children that they usually hold to ensure that invitations are sent to the widest possible range of relatives, neighbors and friends, and the dinner is interspersed with paragraphs that highlight the Jordanian heritage.

A wedding with political connotations

The designation of Prince Al-Hussein bin Abdullah II as Crown Prince in 2009 ended a debate about the second constitutional position in the country, especially after the position remained vacant for about 5 years, after the removal of Prince Hamzah bin Al-Hussein, the half-brother of the King, from the position.

And the Jordanian constitution stipulated in Article (28) that “the throne of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is hereditary in the family of King Abdullah bin Al-Hussein, and the inheritance of the wedding is in the male children of appearance according to the provisions.” The children of that eldest son, and so on, layer after layer.” Paragraph (a) of the same constitutional article states that the king may “choose one of his male brothers as crown prince, and in this case the king’s mandate will pass from the owner of the throne to him.”

At the end of 1998, Jordanians recalled the story of changing the mandate of the Covenant in the last days of the life of the late King Hussein and at the height of his illness, as the mandate of the Covenant at that time was transferred from his brother, Prince Hassan bin Talal, to Hussein’s eldest son, Prince Abdullah II, as a commitment to the traditions of succession to the throne as rules Well-established, at a time when constitutional exceptions are considered a guarantee that the throne will not be vacant.

When the Jordanian King Abdullah II assumed the throne on February 7, 1999, he chose his half-brother, Prince Hamzah, as crown prince, and about six years later, King Abdullah II exempted Prince Hamzah from the mandate of the covenant, moving away from the constitutional controversy that accompanies Such changes usually occur, and it is a right guaranteed by the constitution to the king under the provisions of Article (40) thereof, as the second clause of paragraph (a) states: “The king exercises his powers by a royal will without the signature of the prime minister and the relevant minister or ministers in various cases.” The first came Those powers are “choosing the crown prince.”

Despite the commitment of the Jordanian monarch, King Abdullah II, to his constitutional powers and the traditions of choosing the mandate of the covenant in a manner that preserves the principle of inheritance within the family, Prince Hamzah revealed his dissatisfaction with the decision during the events of what became known locally as the “sedition crisis” in April of 2021. Which revealed contacts confirming his quest to return to power, before thwarting a conspiratorial scheme in cooperation with a member of the noble family and the former head of the royal court, Basem Awadallah, and imprisoning them.

In light of this, Jordan, which had two weddings for two former crown princes, Prince Hassan bin Talal and Prince Hamzah bin Al-Hussein, is experiencing today the first constitutional wedding of a crown prince in the country, which, by naming it, restored the principle of inheritance in the layers of government, which reflects constitutional stability, which enabled Prince Hussein to implement a responsible movement. Among the youth, thus achieving progress in his popularity through the initiatives he launched, and through spontaneous visits he carries out, through which he aims to get closer to the concerns of citizens, and discuss the political elites in the era of his grandfather Hussein or his father Abdullah II.

Thursday celebrations begin with the wedding ceremony

Tomorrow, Thursday, Zahran Palace will witness the marriage ceremony of the Crown Prince and Ms. Rajawa, after which the newlyweds will go to the Husseiniya Palace, surrounded by a red procession.

The procession takes a number of streets in the capital, which were decorated with flags and manifestations of joy on this occasion, while the Public Security Directorate announced two days ago the traffic plan that includes closures of the roads that the royal procession will take, as well as gathering points for those wishing to see the procession closely.

In the Husseiniya Palace, the Jordanian monarch and his wife, Queen Rania Al-Abdullah, will hold a wedding reception, followed by an official dinner for the Jordanian guests, who began arriving yesterday in the capital, Amman. Leaders and leaders of countries and international personalities are expected to attend the wedding ceremony.

The wedding ceremony is receiving great media attention locally, regionally and internationally, and television stations will broadcast the celebrations live.

The governorates of Jordan are witnessing celebrations on the occasion of the wedding, while the capital, Amman, hosted a big celebration on Monday evening, as the artists Tamer Hosni, Ahmed Saad, Zain Awad, Diana Karazon, and Ragheb Alama presented a concert under the title: Join us, “We rejoice in Hussein,” attended by more than 10 Thousands of people, according to the official Jordanian news agency.

Between two palaces… Zahran and Husseiniya

Between two palaces will be the wedding celebrations of the Crown Prince. The first palace has a long history of symbolism, and the second has considerations of protocols and importance. The Zahran Palace, which was built in the fifties of the last century, is the fourth royal palace after “Raghadan”, “Al-Qasr Al-Saghir” and “Basman” – in an area chosen to be a diplomatic quarter in western Amman. It is a palace similar to Raghadan Palace in terms of the height of the building and the simplicity and magnificence of the interior design.

The walls of the palace preserve the history of the residence of the mother queen, “Zein Al-Sharaf” (the grandmother of King Abdullah II, and the mother of King Hussein) until her death in 1994. The palace witnessed the wedding of King Abdullah II and Queen Rania Al-Abdullah, and before that the wedding of King Hussein and Princess Mona. (Mother of King Abdullah II). And upon the death of King Hussein in 1999, the palace was opened to the guests of the Kingdom, who offered their condolences on his death.

As the journey of the Crown Prince’s wedding procession ends at the Husseiniya Palace, which was built in 2006, west of the capital, Amman, next to the King Hussein Bin Talal Mosque, in the presence of kings, presidents and high-ranking delegations for a dinner hosted by the king and queen for the kingdom’s guests. The palace includes the offices of King Abdullah II and Queen Rania Al Abdullah, and the offices of Prince Hussein bin Abdullah II.

In terms of design, the palace combines the Arab-Islamic architectural heritage, represented by arches and decorations on the walls and doors, and the simplicity and elegance of the interior design.

In the Husseiniya Palace, bilateral and expanded discussions are usually held during the visits of official guests of the Kingdom, in which new governments or ministers take an oath before the King when making any change or amendment to the government, and members of the Independent Election Commission and members of the Judicial Council and the Constitutional Court take the constitutional oath before the King. In the courtyard of the palace, ceremonies for receiving high-ranking guests are usually held.