Noor: a stranger adopted as beloved queen

The Associated Press

AMMAN, Jordan -- On King Hussein's last night alive, his American- born wife left his bedside to make another important visit: to thank the crowd holding a vigil outside the hospital.

Queen Noor was mobbed by admirers in her first appearance in days. She smiled and bowed her head in gratitude -- her blond hair spilling out from under a white scarf wrapped modestly around her head. The appreciation on both sides was spontaneous and genuine. The queen -- a stranger to Jordanians two decades ago -- gradually won acceptance as the monarch's fourth wife. With his death Sunday, the 47-year-old Noor has moved on to become a respected matriarch of the Hashemite throne and a caretaker of Hussein's legacy. "Despite her origin, she is Jordanian, her children are Jordanian and Hashemite. We consider her Jordanian, and we treat her as a Jordanian," said Salma Maqsoos, a pharmacy owner. Noor, who will retain her title, adds another role: mother of the crown prince. Jordan's new king, Abdullah, named Noor's 18-year-old son, Hamzeh, as his successor. Abdullah's Palestinian wife, Rania, doesn't automatically receive the title of queen, which can only be bestowed by Abdullah. Even if she becomes queen, Jordan allows for more than one woman to hold the status. Noor's parents were accompanying President Clinton to Jordan for Hussein's funeral. "You are the daughter of America and a queen of Jordan," Clinton said in a personal passage to Noor as part of his comments on Hussein. "You have made two nations very proud." But Noor hasn't always been treated so kindly. Hussein denounced his brother Hassan and his aides for spreading "lies and gossip" about Noor. The accusations, according to palace sources, including false rumors that she had an illegitimate son before marrying Hussein and suggestions that Noor was trying to push Hamzeh as Hussein's successor. The allegations were part of a family dispute that led Hussein last month to pick Abdullah as his successor and bypass Hassan. She was born Lisa Halaby to a Christian-Arab family and raised in Washington. She met Hussein while working on an airport design project in Jordan. She converted to Islam and married the monarch in 1978. Hussein's first two marriages ended in divorce, while his third wife died in a helicopter crash. Noor and Hussein had four children: Hamzeh and Hashim, 17; and two daughters, Iman, 15, and Raiyah, 12. Noor said she has wants to continue her social projects in Jordan. "This is my home," she has said.

Copyright 1999
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.