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Dina bint Abdul-Hamid

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Dina bint Abdul-Hamid
Dina in the 1950s
Queen consort of Jordan
Tenure19 April 1955 – 24 June 1957
BornSharifa Dina bint Abdul-Hamid bin Muhammad
(1929-12-15)15 December 1929
Cairo, Kingdom of Egypt
Died21 August 2019(2019-08-21) (aged 89)
Amman, Jordan
Burial
Raghadan Palace
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1955; div. 1957)​
Salah Ta'amari
​
(m. 1970)​
IssuePrincess Alia bint Hussein
HouseHashemite
FatherSharif Abdul-Hamid bin Muhammad Abdul-Aziz Al-Aun
MotherFahria Brav

Dina bint Abdul-Hamid (Arabic: دينا بنت عبد الحميد; 15 December 1929 – 21 August 2019) was a Hashemite princess and Queen of Jordan from 1955 until 1957[1] as the first wife of King Hussein. She was the mother to Hussein's oldest child, Princess Alia bint Hussein. She and the king were married from 1955 to 1957, and in 1970 she married a high-ranking official in the PLO. She was a graduate of the University of Cambridge and a lecturer in English literature at Cairo University.

Early life and education

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Dina was born on 15 December 1929 in Cairo, Kingdom of Egypt to Sharif Abdul-Hamid bin Muhammad Abdul-Aziz Al-Aun (1898–1955) and his wife, Fahria Brav (died 1982).[citation needed] A member of the House of Hashim, she had the honorific title sharifa of Mecca as an agnatic descendant of Hasan ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad. Dina was also a third cousin of her future father-in-law, King Talal of Jordan. Through her mother, Dina was connected to Egypt's Circassian elite. Her father and uncles claimed a waqf that consisted of nearly 2,000 feddans.[2]

Like many children of the landed Arab aristocracy, Dina was sent to a boarding school in England. She next obtained a degree in English literature from Girton College, Cambridge University, and a post graduate diploma in social science from Bedford College, London.[3]

After her return home, she began to teach English literature and philosophy at the University of Cairo while residing in the affluent suburb of Maadi with her parents.[3] As a young woman, Dina was considered beautiful, highly educated, sophisticated and emancipated. She was well-liked by her entourage and friends.[4][5]

Queen of Jordan

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King Hussein and Queen Dina on their wedding day, 19 April 1955

Dina first met her distant cousin Hussein in 1952 in London at the home of a relative from Iraq. The King was then studying at the Harrow School while she was studying at Girton College, Cambridge and was pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree and obtained it with honours.[2][6] After her graduation, she returned to Egypt, where Hussein visited her in Maadi thereafter.

In 1954, two years after her son's accession to the throne, Hussein's mother, the Dowager Queen Zein, who exerted a significant influence early in his reign, announced the engagement of the King and Dina. The match was considered to be perfect as Dina was a Hashemite princess, and brought up with the best education the West had to offer.[7] The union was also strongly favoured by Gamal Abdel Nasser, the future President of Egypt.[8] They were married on 19 April 1955 at Raghadan Palace.[9] The bride was 25 and the groom was 19 at the time.[2]

Upon her marriage, Dina became Queen of Jordan. According to author Isis Fahmy, who interviewed Dina in the presence of her husband on their wedding day, Hussein determinedly said that she would have no political role. Fahmy noted that Hussein had intended to exercise authority over Dina, who was herself a strong personality, and that his mother viewed her as a threat to her own status.[10]

It soon became apparent that the king and queen had little in common. On 13 February 1956, she gave birth to the king's first child, Princess Alia, but the arrival of a child did not help the royal marriage.[2]

Princess of Jordan

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Wives of King Hussein of Jordan
and years of marriage
Dina bint Abdul-Hamid
(Queen Dina)
m. 1955–1957
Toni Gardiner
(Princess Muna)
m. 1961–1972
Alia Toukan
(Queen Alia)
m. 1972–1977
Lisa Halaby
(Queen Noor)
m. 1978–1999

In 1956, while the queen was on a holiday in Egypt, the king informed her about his intention to separate from her. Hussein likely did so at the prompting of his mother, Queen Zein, with whom Dina was on bad terms.[7] The couple divorced on 24 June 1957, during a period of strain between Jordan and Egypt,[8] at which time she became known as HRH Princess Dina Abdul-Hamid of Jordan. The ex-queen was not allowed to see her daughter for some time after the divorce.[2]

On 7 October 1970, Dina married Lieut-Colonel Asad Sulayman Abd al-Qadir (born 27 October 1942 in Bethlehem), alias Salah Ta'amari, a Palestinian guerrilla commando who became a high-ranking official in the Palestine Liberation Organization. He was imprisoned by the Israelis in 1982.[11] A year later, Dina negotiated one of the largest prisoner exchanges in history—freeing her husband and 8,000 other prisoners.[12]

Death and funeral

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Princess Dina died in Amman on 21 August 2019, aged 89.[13] On the same day, King Abdullah II, Crown Prince Hussein, Prince Hassan, and other members of the royal family attended her funeral at the Royal Cemetery.[14] Senior officials and officers also offered their condolences to the King and members of the royal family. The King then took part in the noon prayer and the funeral prayer at the Royal Guards Mosque.[15]

International roles and positions

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  • Honorary president of the Muslim Women's Association of the United Kingdom

Notable published works

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  • Duet for Freedom, Quartet Books Ltd, 268 pages, (29 January 1988). ISBN 0704326779[16]

Honours

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National
Foreign

Ancestry

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References

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  1. ^ "Family tree on website of King Hussein of Jordan". Archived from the original on 6 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Queen Dina". Cairo Times. 1999. Archived from the original on 21 September 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  3. ^ a b Shlaim, p. 179-83
  4. ^ Fahmy, Isis (2003). Around the World with Isis. Papadakis Publisher. p. 65. ISBN 9781901092493.
  5. ^ King Hussein, Princess Dina and Princess Alia
  6. ^ Great Britain and the East, Volume 71. 1955.
  7. ^ a b Dann, Uriel (1991). King Hussein and the Challenge of Arab Radicalism. Oxford University Press. p. 22. ISBN 0195361210.
  8. ^ a b Sinai, Anne (1977). The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the West Bank: a handbook. USA: American Academic Association for Peace in the Middle East. ISBN 0-917158-01-6.
  9. ^ Paxton, J. (2016). The Statesman's Year-Book 1982-83. Springer. p. 752. ISBN 9780230271111.
  10. ^ Fahmy, Isis (2006). Around the World with Isis. Papadakis Publisher. ISBN 1-901092-49-6.
  11. ^ Greenberg, Joel (1996). "A Victory That Nips at Arafat's Heels". Cairo Times. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  12. ^ Kanafani, Deborah (2008). Unveiled: how an American woman found her way through politics, love and obedience in the Middle East. USA: Free Press. ISBN 978-0-7432-9183-5.
  13. ^ Royal News
  14. ^ "King participates in Princess Dina Abdul Hamid's funeral". The Jordan Times. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  15. ^ "King participates in Princess Dina Abdul Hamid's funeral". Jordan News Agency. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  16. ^ Amazon
  17. ^ Boletín Oficial del Estado
  18. ^ EFE

Bibliography

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  • Avi Shlaim (2008). Lion of Jordan: The Life of King Hussein in War and Peace. Penguin UK . ISBN 9780141903644.
Royal titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Zein al-Sharaf Talal 		Queen consort of Jordan
18 April 1955 – 24 June 1957 		Vacant
Title next held by
Muna al-Hussein
as princess consort
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