Hamzah bin Hussein, ( ar, حمزة بن الحسين; born 29 March 1980) is the fourth son of
King Hussein bin Talal of Jordan overall and the first by his American-born fourth wife,
Queen Noor
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
. He was named
Crown Prince of Jordan
The Crown Prince of Jordan is the heir-apparent or heir-presumptive to the throne of Jordan.
The Article 28(B) of the Constitution of Jordan provides for agnatic primogeniture, meaning that the eldest son of the King automatically succeeds to th ...
in 1999, a position he held until his older half-brother,
King Abdullah II
Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein ( ar, عبدالله الثاني بن الحسين , translit=ʿAbd Allāh aṯ-ṯānī ibn al-Ḥusayn; born 30 January 1962) is King of Jordan, having ascended the throne on 7 February 1999. He is a member of t ...
, rescinded it in 2004. He is a member of the
Hashemite
The Hashemites ( ar, الهاشميون, al-Hāshimīyūn), also House of Hashim, are the royal family of Jordan, which they have ruled since 1921, and were the royal family of the kingdoms of Hejaz (1916–1925), Syria (1920), and Iraq (1921 ...
dynasty, the royal family of Jordan since 1921, and is a
41st-generation direct descendant of
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
. Hamzah is currently believed to be under
house arrest
In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...
since April 2021, after being accused of attempting to destabilise the Kingdom of Jordan and fomenting unrest. Hamzah renounced his title of prince in April 2022.
Biography
Born on 29 March 1980, Hamzah Bin Al Hussein claims ancestry with the Islamic prophet
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
through the Hashemite family. Queen Noor states in her autobiography that she and King Hussein named Hamzah after
Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib
Ḥamza ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ( ar, حمزة بن عبد المطلب; 568 – 625)Muhammad ibn Saad. ''Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir'' vol. 3. Translated by Bewley, A. (2013). ''The Companions of Badr''. London: Ta-Ha Publishers. was a ...
.
Hamzah received his elementary education in Jordan and Amman, and then attended
Harrow School
(The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God)
, established = (Royal Charter)
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school
, religion = Church of E ...
in England. He then joined the
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town of ...
, passing out as a commissioned officer in the Jordan
Arab Legion
The Arab Legion () was the police force, then regular army of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate, in the early part of the 20th century, and then of independent Jordan, with a final Arabization of its command taking place in 195 ...
in December 1999, with a number of prizes including the Sandhurst Overseas Sword, granted to the best overseas cadet and the HRH Prince Saud Abdullah Prize, presented to the cadet with the best aggregate mark in academic subjects.
Serving then as an officer in the Jordan Arab Army's 40th Armored Brigade, Hamzah attended a number of military courses and attachments in Jordan, the UK, Poland, Germany and the US. Currently holding the rank of Brigadier in the Jordan Arab Army, he served with the Jordan-United Arab Emirates force operating in former Yugoslavia under the umbrella of international peacekeepers. In the year 2006, he graduated from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
.
Hamzah was sworn in as Regent on numerous occasions and deputized for King Abdullah II on a number of missions in the Kingdom and abroad. He headed the Royal Advisory Committee on the Energy Sector. He is also the Honorary President of the
Jordan Basketball Federation, and is the chairman of the board of trustees of the
Royal Automobile Museum
The Royal Automobile Museum (Arabic: ''متحف السيارات الملكي'') is an automobile museum in Amman, Jordan.
History
Located next to the Al Hussein Public Parks, the museum was established in 2003 upon King Abdullah's wishes. The m ...
, the President of the Royal Aero sports Club of Jordan and the President of Al-Shajarah (Tree) Protection Society.
Hamzah is a qualified rotor and fixed wing aircraft pilot, and participates in other sports such as
Jujitsu and target-shooting.
Succession issue
On 7 February 1999, King Hussein died and his eldest son Prince Abdullah bin Hussein ascended to the throne of Jordan, having two weeks previously been designated to succeed his father as ruler in place of the king's brother,
Crown Prince Hassan bin Talal. On the same day, in compliance with his father's wish, King Abdullah II decreed that he, in turn, would be succeeded not by a son of his own but by his half-brother, Hamzah, who was therefore accorded the title of
crown prince
A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...
.
Nearly six years later, on 28 November 2004, King Abdullah removed Hamzah as crown prince.
In a letter from Abdullah to Hamzah, read on Jordanian state television, he said, "Your holding this symbolic position has restrained your freedom and hindered our entrusting you with certain responsibilities that you are fully qualified to undertake."
No successor to the title was named at the time, but some analysts believed it probable that Abdullah intended to name his own son,
Prince Hussein, to succeed him at some point in the future.
Article 28(B) of Jordan's constitution provides that the king's eldest son automatically succeeds to the crown upon the monarch's death unless the king has designated one of his brothers to inherit the throne as crown prince,
but Abdullah II confirmed that his son Hussein would succeed him by designating him as crown prince on 2 July 2009.
House arrest
On 3 April 2021, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
published a video of Hamzah in which he reported that he has been placed under house arrest as part of a crackdown on critics.
It was stated that the video had been passed to the BBC through Hamzah's lawyer.