Queen Rania of Jordan
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| Rania Al Yassin | ||
|---|---|---|
| Queen of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan | ||
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| Queen Rania (left) visits Washington DC with King Abdullah II, March 6th, 2007 | ||
| Titles | HM The Queen of Jordan (1999-) HRH The Crown Princess of Jordan (1999-1999) HRH Princess Rania al-Abdullah (1993-1999) Miss Rania Al-Yassin (1970-1993) |
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| Born | August 31, 1970 (age 36) | |
| Kuwait | ||
| Consort | February 7, 1999 - present | |
| Consort to | Abdullah II of Jordan | |
| Issue | Hussein, Iman, Salma, Hashem | |
Queen Rania Al-Abdullah (Arabic: رانية العبدالله) (born Rania Al-Yassin on August 31, 1970), is the queen consort of King Abdullah II, the king of Jordan.
[edit] Early life
Rania Al-Yassin was born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents from Tulkarm. She attended primary and secondary school at New English School in Kuwait, then gained a degree in Business Administration from the American University in Cairo. After her graduation in 1991, Queen Rania worked at Citibank before taking a job at Apple Computer in Jordan.
According to her interview on Oprah, in May 2006, and restated on her official website, Her Majesty Queen Rania, met the King (then the prince) at an official dinner being hosted by Princess Aisha on behalf of the prince. For both it was love at first sight. Six months later, the couple married in June 1993 and had their first born in 1994. It is said that Rania played a critical role in the decision of King Hussein to designate his son Abdullah as his heir, due to her resemblance to the late Queen Alia, who was loved and also of Palestinian origin. Upon the succession of Abdullah, Rania influenced the King's acceptance in Jordan, by cementing his image as an Arab, since many considered him to be a foreigner because of his slightly broken Arabic.
[edit] International initiatives
In 2004, Queen Rania chaired the nomination committee for the newly founded Forum of Young Global Leaders, associated with the World Economic Forum. She is also involved in the following initiatives:
- World Economic Forum (Foundation Board member)
- UN Children's Fund (particularly the Global Leadership Initiative)
- The Vaccine Fund (board member since 2002)
- International Youth Foundation
- FINCA (Foundation for International Community Assistance; board member since 2003)
- International Osteoporosis Foundation
- Visit to South Africa in 2006 where she visited the Tygerberg Hospital, the second largest hospital in Africa
- Honorary President of the "Arab Academy for Banking and Financial Sciences" (AABFS) [1]
Queen Rania has made many public appearances, including a half-hour television interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show on May 17, 2006.[2]
[edit] External links
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Queen_rania.jpg
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