Hussein of Jordan: son of Rania of Jordan, first in line, millionaire and with no wedding in sight, what is life like for the golden bachelor of the Middle East?

ELENA CASTELLO

One of the first times that Hussein bin Abdallah attracted the attention of Jordanian royalists was in June 2018, when he invited Prince William to the Amman palace to watch a World Cup match in Russia between England and Panama , during his tour of the Middle East. It was a great day for Guillermo because he won England.

Hussein bin Abdullah is considered one of the most attractive bachelors in the world, even though he is still unknown in much of Europe. But he takes much more than his personal appeal to prepare for his future role as King of Jordan. He was born in Amman, the capital of Jordan, on June 28, 1994. He is named after his grandfather, King Hussein bin Talal, who reigned from 1952 until his death in 1999. King Hussein was known to his people as " al-Malik al-Insan' or 'the Human King', for his efforts to improve the lives of Jordanians. Hussein bin Abdullah belongs to the Hashemite dynasty, which has ruled Jordan since 1921 and claims descent from the Prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima. Hussein is the eldest of Kings Abdullah and Rania's four children: Princess Iman (22), Princess Salma (18) and Prince Hashem (14).

The young prince studied at the Chouelfat International School in Amman and at the Amman International Academy. He finished high school at King's Academy in the capital. In May 2016, he graduated from the prestigious Georgetown University in Washington, DC, specializing in International History. A year later he graduated from the Sandhurst Military Academy in the UK. The Jordanian press assures that he likes sports and that he is a great reader.

His appointment as crown prince, however, was not a given from the start. His father Abdullah was not expected to ascend to the Jordanian throne despite being Hussein's eldest son, as the king transferred the heir title to his younger brother Prince Hassan in 1965. However, shortly before his death , the king changed the order of succession and named Abdalá as his heir.

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Prince Hussein officially became heir apparent on July 2, 2009, when a royal decree naming him as such was issued. Since then, the prince has accompanied his father on official and military missions and has assumed various official duties, including regent during the king's absence from the country. In addition, it is in charge of the Crown Prince Foundation (CPF), which oversees a technical University and a series of scientific and humanitarian initiatives. For example, Haqiq is a national leadership program for students in grades 9 and 10, established to encourage youth volunteerism. The Masar initiative aims to inspire and support the passion of young people for innovation in space technology, which has led to the design of JY1-SAT, the first Jordanian satellite. The prince also chairs the Hearing Without Borders programme, which aims to support the rehabilitation of the hearing impaired.

As a military man, he trained with the elite 71st Counter-Terrorism Battalion of the Jordanian special forces in 2013, and holds the rank of lieutenant in the Jordanian armed forces. He has visited wounded people from the Gaza Strip treated at the King Hussein Medical Center in Amman.

But perhaps his most notable achievement to date has been to become, at the age of 20, the youngest person to chair a United Nations Security Council during a session in December 2015. In response to the At the Prince's call to involve youth in building peace and countering violence and extremism, the Council adopted the Jordanian-proposed Amman Youth Declaration.

In May 2017, he gave the welcome address during a session of the World Economic Forum, which was held on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea, with the participation of more than 1,100 politicians and business leaders from more than 50 countries, and in September 2017, he represented Jordan at the UN General Assembly.

The prince has been unable to prevent the coronavirus. Last September, a statement from the royal house announced that he had tested positive for covid-19, although he suffered mild symptoms. A few months earlier, in July, Hussein had accompanied his parents on their first visit to the new US president, Joe Biden, on a 15-day trip. The prince attended Biden's meeting with his father, King Abdullah, and also met with Vice President Kamala Harris. It was a way of giving him all the prominence as heir to the Crown, after the attempted coup that hit Prince Hamzah a few months ago, and for which two senior officials were sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Father and son also met with the secretary of defense, with the secretary of the treasury, with the president of the House of Representatives and a long series of personalities with high political responsibilities. In an image shared by the Prince, the president of the United States is seen, smiling, putting an arm around his shoulders in an obviously affectionate gesture.

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But the prince is not the protagonist only politically. He has more than two million followers on Instagram and boasts the friendship of figures such as Karlie Kloss and Joshua Kushner, to the wedding of which, held on a Wyoming ranch, he attended with his sister Princess Salma, in July 2019. Those who know him say that he has inherited the gift of people from his mother, Queen Rania, as well as being a very good student and with a great sense of duty.