Hussein of Jordan

Hussein bin Talal (Arabic: حسين بن طلال) (November 14, 1935 – February 7, 1999) was the King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from 1952 to 1999. He ascended after the 1952 abdication of his father, King Talal.

Personal life

He married four times. His four wives were:

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• Sharifa Dina bint 'Abdu'l-Hamid, an Egyptian-born third cousin of King Hussein's father, King Talal, on April 19, 1955. A graduate of Cambridge University and a former lecturer in English literature at Cairo University, the bride was 26 to the groom's 19. They separated in 1956 and were divorced in 1957, at which time Queen Dina became known as Princess Dina. She became an Egyptian citizen in 1963, and in October 1970, Princess Dina of Jordan married Asad Sulayman Abd al-Qadir, alias Salah Taamari, a Palestinian guerilla commando who became a high-ranking official in the Palestine Liberation Organization.
• Daughter: Alia (born 1956). Married first (1977, divorced 1987) Sayyid Nasser Mirza and second (1988) Sayyid Mohammed Al-Saleh. Has issue by both.
• Antoinette Avril Gardiner, ('Toni Gardiner') (born Chelmondiston, England, 1941, renamed Muna al-Hussein on conversion to Islam), on May 25, 1961. An award-winning field hockey player, former typist, and daughter of a British army officer turned innkeeper, Lieutenant-Colonel Walter Percy Gardiner, she was given the title Princess Muna al Hussein on January 30, 1962, divorced 1972.
• Children:
• Abdullah (born 1962)
• Faisal (born 1963). Lieutenant-General, former Commander of The Royal Air Forces. Married to Aliya Tabaa, has three daughters and one son.
• Aisha (born 1968). Brigadier-General of Jordan's Military Forces. Married to Sayyid Zeid Juma, she has a son and a daughter.
• Zein (born 1968, Aisha's twin). Married to Sayyid Majdi Al-Saleh, she has a son, a daughter and an adopted daughter.
• Alia Baha ed Toukan (1948-1977), after whom Jordan's international airport (Queen Alia International Airport) is named. She died in a helicopter crash in Amman, Jordan.
• Children:
• Haya (born 1972). Married to Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai.
• Ali (born 1975).
• Adopted daughter: Abir, (born 1972, adopted 1976)
• Elizabeth Najeeb Halaby, ('Lisa Halaby') (renamed Queen Noor al Hussein on her conversion to Islam),
• Children:
• Hamzah (born 1980)
• Hashim (born 1981)
• Iman (born 1983)
• Raiyah (born 1986)

King Hussein was succeeded as king by his eldest son Abdullah II of Jordan.

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