Prince William and Kate Middleton’s close ties to Jordan

The Prince and Princess of Wales have made a surprise visit to Jordan to attend the wedding of the country’s Crown Prince Hussein.

William, 40, and Kate, 41, are among a host of foreign royals attending the wedding of Crown Prince Hussein, 28, and architect bride Rajwa Alseif, 29, at Zahran Palace on Thursday.

The presence of the British royal family, spotted at a luxury hotel in Amman last night, was kept secret and was only confirmed by Jordanian state media a few hours before the start of the palace ceremony.

But it’s perhaps hardly surprising that Kate and William have made the trip to the Middle East – as they both undoubtedly share a fondness for Jordan.

The country holds special memories, especially for the princess; The Middleton family spent three years there in the early 80’s when Kate was just two years old after her father Michael, a British Airways manager, relocated to Amman for work.

In 2021, Kensington Palace announced that William and Kate had taken George, Charlotte and Louis on holiday to Jordan when they released a Christmas card featuring this image

Kate attended an English-speaking kindergarten while her parents were in the country for almost three years before returning to Berkshire in 1986.

In 2011 in an interview with The NationalThe founder of the Assahera Kindergarten that Kate attended, Sahera al Nabulsi, gave a revealing glimpse into the princess’ early years.

She said: “The morning routine consisted of all the children sitting in a circle and singing ‘Incy Wincy Spider’, in both English and Arabic.

“We read a verse from the Koran to improve the children’s Arabic skills and told stories about the Prophet’s companions, such as Omar Bin Khattab.” “The idea was to reinforce concepts such as respect and love.”

Kate was in a class of 12, while the nursery served 100 children aged three to five from Jordan, the UK, Japan, India, Indonesia and the US.

In the morning everyone was grouped together to study Arabic before being split into different classes.

“The teacher always asked in Arabic: ‘Who is wearing red today?'” so that the children recognize the colors,” Ms. al Nabulsi recalls.

The kindergarten founder dressed up as Santa Claus at Christmas and celebrated Eid al-Fitr at the end of Ramadan when a drummer came by to entertain the children.

A family photo of Kate, now Princess of Wales, aged four with her father Michael Middleton and sister Pippa in Jerash, Jordan

Prince William and Crown Prince Hussein look at an enlarged version of the same photo in 2018

Prince William pictured with Crown Prince Hussein in June 2018 during his tour of the Middle East

Ms al Nabulsi recalled that royal mother Carole usually did the school run, but that Michael sometimes picked Kate up in his work uniform. “The kids were always very excited and ran to see him,” she said.

Speaking about Kate’s childhood with Save the Children chief executive Rania Malki during a trip to the Middle East in 2018, Prince William said: “She loved it here, she really did.” She’s very upset about it ‘that I come here without her.’

William visited the ruins of a Roman settlement in Jerash – where Kate was pictured as a child – with Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein before posing for a photo at the same spot.

The Prince of Wales told photographers at the time: “Next time we’ll have to bring the kids.”

True to its word, Kensington Palace announced in 2021 that William and Kate had taken Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis on holiday to Jordan with the release of their Christmas card.

In 2021, Kensington Palace announced that William and Kate had taken Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis on holiday to Jordan when they released their Christmas card.

The palace announced that the photo shared to mark the holidays was taken in Jordan earlier this year, when the royal family of five visited the ancient city of Petra.

The Jordanian royal family has also had a close connection with the British royals for a long time.

King Abdullah and Queen Rania were among those who were on the “reduced” guest list of 2,300 at Westminster Abbey on May 6 for the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla.

The couple were also present at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral last September.

Queen Rania dubbed the late monarch the “queen of the world” in a sweet Instagram tribute and even admitted to “looking up” to Queen Elizabeth during an interview with ITV News.

The Prince and Princess of Wales chat with King Abdullah II and Queen Rania during a reception before lunch for guests at Windsor Castle on May 18, 2012

To celebrate Father’s Day 2022, Kensington Palace released this photo of Prince William with his children Prince Louis, Prince George (right) and Princess Charlotte. The photo was taken in Jordan in autumn 2021

Elsewhere, she was asked about Kate during an interview with CNN, taped in London in September 2022 ahead of the late Queen’s funeral.

Referring to the mother-of-three, Rania praised the Princess of Wales for her sense of duty and said she gives “from the heart”.

She also said in a clip of her interview that there’s a “sense of sincerity” and “love” in everything Kate does.

“Princess Catherine, when she talks about her work, her face lights up,” Rania said. “She’s doing it out of a sense of duty, but more importantly, she’s doing it because she absolutely loves it.”

Her praise didn’t end there, however, as she said the Princess of Wales “gives from the heart”.

“When she talks about her work, she says, ‘I’m just lucky to do this, I’m privileged to do that,'” she said. “So she gives with all her heart.” And again, there’s a sense of sincerity and love in everything she does.”

Queen Rania is also a councilor for the Earthshot Prize, created by Prince William in 2020.

On Prince Hussein’s wedding day, 140 guests, including members of the Hashemite royal family, invited royalty and heads of state, will watch the couple tie the knot in the palace gardens.

Thursday was declared a national holiday. Celebratory events are held in all twelve governorates of Jordan to give citizens the opportunity to join in the celebrations.

The couple will be married at Zahran Palace in an “elegant and unassuming religious ceremony.”

The couple will then proceed in a motorcade to the wedding reception at Al Husseiniya Palace, where a diverse array of performers will pay tribute to the crown prince’s military career, his bride’s Saudi Arabian heritage and traditional Jordanian art.

The wedding ceremony is hosted by King Abdullah II and Queen Rania and the bride’s parents with more than 1,700 guests.

The rest of the evening features various performances by local and regional singers, a choral group, Jordanian bands, the National Orchestra and folk dance groups.

The reception ends with the bride and groom cutting the wedding cake.

It’s set to be the royal wedding of the summer – and now new details have emerged about the big day of Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan and his bride Rajwa Al-Saif