Prince Hamzah bin Hussein

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. He was named Crown Prince of Jordan in 1999, a position he held until his older half-brother, King Abdullah II, rescinded it in 2004. He is a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of Jordan since 1921, and is a 41st-generation direct descendant of Muhammad. Hamzah is currently believed to be under house arrest 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 through the Hashemite family. Queen Noor states in her autobiography that she and King Hussein named Hamzah after Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib.

Hamzah received his elementary education in Jordan and Amman, and then attended Harrow School in England. He then joined the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, passing out as a commissioned officer in the Jordan Arab Legion 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.

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 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.

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
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