Queen Noor of Jordan has broken her long silence to plead clemency for her son. The former wife of King Hussein has once again begged King Abdullah to release Prince Hamzah, who has been under house arrest since 2021 along with his family. Having been eclipsed for years by the media-driven, glamorous Queen Rania, Noor now leads a discreet life, away from the new stars of the Hashemite court: the Crown Prince Hussein and his wife, Rajwa Al Saif.
Against all odds, Queen Noor of Jordan has chosen to issue a plea addressed to King Abdullah through her social media. Torn between the respect for the current monarch and her support for her son Hamzah, who is now 45, the queen Noor has broken her silence to plead for the prince’s release. She has done so via her social networks due to the danger of the situation in the Middle East, including in Jordan. The royal implores the sovereign to release his son so that he can be safe.
“It is time for the Jordanian palace to release Prince Hamzah and all the other innocents from their arbitrary six-year detention to protect themselves during this war,” Noor writes on her Twitter account. The half-brother of King Abdullah was detained after an alleged plot against the kingdom’s security. His arrest followed his visits to several tribal leaders to secure support for an alleged coup.
After the United States and Israel’s attacks on Iran, the war advances in the region and the situation is worrying for Queen Noor, who is concerned for her son’s safety. In recent days there have been bombings in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. For its part, the Jordanian army says it has intercepted several Iranian missiles aimed at the country.
Abdullah versus Hamzah: brothers at odds
The bitter history that led to Prince Hamzah’s house arrest began on January 25, 1999. On that day, a ailing King Hussein of Jordan announced that his eldest son, Abdullah, would become the new crown prince. However, that title had been held by Hassan since 1965. A few days after this change of heir, the monarch died and Abdullah, who had been the country’s shortest-lived heir for thirteen days, became the new King of Jordan.
In return for the title, the current sovereign promised his father that he would name his own half-brother, Hamzah, as heir on the day he ascended to the throne. King Hussein had four wives and eleven children. And although Abdullah was his eldest son, he was the product of his second marriage, to Princess Muna, from whom he had divorced. The king Hussein favored his last family, the one he had formed with Queen Noor. And he felt a special affection for Prince Hamzah, the first child born of this latter marriage.
The Prince Hamzah with his wife, Princess Basmah.
Abdullah, once on the throne, respected his father’s last will and chose Hamzah as heir. But this title was withdrawn in 2004 during a televised statement. The husband of Queen Rania declared that he wanted to offer more freedom to his half-brother. A few years later, the title was formally granted to Hussein, the elder son of Abdullah and Rania. This decision permanently broke the relations between the two brothers.
The Prince Hamzah: Six Years Detained
In 2021, Prince Hamzah was arrested, under the accusation of having organized a supposed coup to overthrow Abdullah. A few days later, it emerged that Hamzah had agreed to sign a loyalty pledge to the monarch. In 2022, Hamzah announced that he renounced his title as prince, but the unequivocal decision did not please his half-brother, who reminded him that he was the only one with the authority to make such a decision.
King Abdullah issued then a decree to officially restrict the communications and movements of his brother “after exhausting all attempts to resolve the problem,” in his own words. Since then, a Queen Noor, always engaged with the situation in the Middle East, has never abandoned her eldest son. And she has dared to speak publicly in his defense to the one million followers she has on Twitter. A conciliatory figure, she has also assured that she prays for “all Arabs, Iranians and innocent Israelis in our region.”
Prince Hamzah has a daughter with his first wife, from whom he divorced, and four children with his second wife, Princess Basmah, who lives with him. No information has leaked about the conditions of his detention, which Noor has described as “cruel.” The king Abdullah’s half-brother has always denied having committed any crime and has stated that he was not part of any conspiracy.
