AMMAN — Her Majesty
Queen Rania Al Abdullah will celebrate her birthday on Thursday, August 31,
marking another year spent in public service alongside His Majesty King
Abdullah II, according to Her Majesty’s office statement.
اضافة اعلان
The past year featured a number of joyous occasions for the Hashemites
and their larger Jordanian family: the wedding of HRH Crown
Prince Al Hussein, the wedding of HRH Princess Iman bint
Abdullah II, the university graduation of HRH Princess Salma
bint Abdullah II, and the high school graduation of HRH Prince
Hashem bin Abdullah II.
Their Majesties King Abdullah II and Queen Rania Al Abdullah and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein during celebrations of the 77th Anniversary of Jordan’s Independence Day. Amman, Jordan/ 25 May 2023.
In the days and weeks preceding their children’s weddings, Their
Majesties the King and Queen were eager to share their happiness with their
country’s people, involving the Jordanian public in the various celebrations
marking the marriages of their first-born son and eldest daughter.
Her Majesty hosted a Henna party for Princess Iman, as well as a dinner
party held in honor of the Crown Prince’s wife, HRH Princess
Rajwa Al Hussein, where the Queen and members of the royal family were joined
by women from across Jordan’s 12 governorates to celebrate the two happy
occasions. Both events spotlighted the richness of Jordanian culture and
included several folkloric musical and dance performances by local female
artists.
Throughout the year, Queen Rania continued to follow up on issues of
importance to the Jordanian public by carrying out a number of visits to
charitable associations, home-based businesses, startups, and other
organizations across the country’s cities, villages, and rural areas.
Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah during a visit to Ghor Al Safi Women's Society for Social Development. Al Karak, Jordan / 22 February 2023
A celebrated advocate for women and youth, Her Majesty’s local
engagements included meetings with women artisans and young entrepreneurs, as
well as visits to a number of women-led initiatives and associations supporting
women’s financial empowerment.
During the holy month of Ramadan last March, for the second consecutive
year, the Queen organized a mission to Umrah – the lesser Muslim pilgrimage to
Mecca – for 500 women from across Jordan, a group of whom the Queen joined to
perform the sacred pilgrimage herself. Earlier, in December 2022, Her Majesty took
part in the lighting of the Fuheis Christmas tree among members of Jordan’s
Christian minority.
Alongside her work within Jordan, over the course of the year, Queen
Rania participated in several distinguished global gatherings, and accompanied
His Majesty on a number of regional and international working visits.
At the invitation of the Her Majesty Queen Camilla of the United Kingdom,
Queen Rania attended a reception at Buckingham Palace in London aiming to raise
awareness of violence against women and girls. She also met with U.S. First
Lady Dr. Jill Biden at the White House while joining His Majesty and Crown
Prince Al Hussein on a visit to Washington, D.C.
Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah with U.S. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden at the White House, Washington, D.C., USA / 1 February 2023.
While in D.C., the Queen delivered the keynote speech at the 2023
National Prayer Breakfast (NPB) Gathering’s International Luncheon on Capitol
Hill, where she affirmed that religion is not “a shelter for hiding,” but “a
launch pad for living.” She also posited that, in the face of widespread
polarization, the act of prayer can lead us towards a better, more nuanced path
that she described as “the third way.”
“This third way is not the average of extremes, but rises above the
binary, elevating us to higher ground that can become common ground as well,”
she said. “Our win doesn’t need to be someone else’s loss. And being right
doesn’t mean that the other side is wrong — only that we need other points of
view to see a multi-dimensional picture.”
From the dinner party held by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah in celebration of the wedding of Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Al Hussein and Princess Rajwa Al Hussein, Amman, Jordan / 22 May 2023
The Queen also spoke at the 2023 Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, where
she underscored the potential pitfalls of humanity’s increased reliance on
technology. “I am concerned that we’re undervaluing the most precious currency
of all – our time,” Her Majesty said. “I am concerned that, even as virtual
reality improves by the day, we’re neglecting the needs of our actual reality.”
In her capacity as a member of the Earthshot Prize Council, the Queen
delivered remarks at the first-ever Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit, hosted
in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. In her
speech, Her Majesty called for mobilizing collective action and ingenuity to
repair the planet, cautioning against claiming that “climate change is somebody
else’s problem,” or leaving it for future generations to address.
This year, Queen Rania continued to use her global platform to advocate
on behalf of refugees in Jordan and beyond. At the Clinton Global Initiative
meeting in New York, Her Majesty explained that a refugee crisis is “not just a
short-term humanitarian crisis,” but rather a “crisis of human development”
that requires long-term solutions focusing on growth, building resilience,
sustainability, and job creation.
Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah joining the residents of Fuheis for a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony, Amman, Jordan / 13 December 2022
Additionally, the Queen repeatedly underscored disparities in the
treatment of refugees based on their country of origin. Speaking at the Paris
Peace Forum, she noted the difference in reception of refugees from Ukraine to
those from countries such as Syria, Myanmar, and South Sudan, who had also been
driven from their homes.
“What accounts for the contrast in compassion? Does skin color make all
the difference?” she asked.
In May, Queen Rania attended the coronation ceremony of the King Charles
III and Queen Camilla in London alongside King Abdullah. Their Majesties also
attended the funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth II in September.
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