Queen Rania of Jordan

by Scott Mehl  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

photo: Wikipedia

photo: Wikipedia

Queen Rania of Jordan

Rania al-Yassin was born on August 31, 1970, in Kuwait, to Faisal Sedki Al-Yassin and his wife Ilham. Following her primary and secondary education at the New English School in Jabriya, Kuwait, Rania attended The American University in Cairo, Egypt, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. She then attended The School of Business Studies, in Geneva Switzerland, earning a post-graduate diploma in Sales Management. She worked for a while at Citibank, before taking a job with Apple, Inc. in Jordan.

In January 1993, Rania met Prince Abdullah of Jordan, the eldest son of King Hussein I of Jordan and his second wife Princess Muna, at a dinner party hosted by mutual friends. Quickly smitten, he proposed just two months later and the couple was married on June 10, 1993. At the time, neither likely suspected that they would one day become King and Queen of Jordan.

They had four children:

Just days before King Hussein’s death in February 1999, Prince Abdullah was named his heir and Crown Prince. The following month, King Abdullah II issued a proclamation elevating Rania to the title of Queen. Since then, Queen Rania has used her position to bring attention to important issues both domestically and around the world. In both areas, she is very involved with the promotion of education and community empowerment, through various initiatives that she has started such as the Queen Rania Academy for teachers, several scholarship funds, and a program called ‘My School’, aimed at refurbishing 500 public schools over several years. This program continues to be very dear to Queen Rania’s heart.

Internationally, the Queen has been very involved with UNICEF, The Global Campaign for Education, and is one of the founders of 1GOAL. Through the World Economic Forum, she has also launched the Jordan Education Initiative. Read more about Queen Rania’s programs and initiatives at her official site linked below.

Queen Rania has also written several children’s books, with the proceeds all going to charity. These include The Sandwich Swap, which was a New York Times bestseller.

Queen Rania with her family; Photo Credit – Royal Hashemite Court Archives

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Resources at Unofficial Royalty