by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2014
Princess Sarvath in 2015 receiving an honorary doctorate ; By University of Bath – https://www.flickr.com/photos/uniofbath/19116052028/sizes/o/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48394484
Princess Sarvath El Hassan of Jordan is the wife of Prince Hassan of Jordan, the younger brother of King Hussein I of Jordan. She was born Sarvath Ikramullah on July 24, 1947, in Calcutta, India, the daughter of Mohammed Ikramullah and Shaista Suhrawardy.
Sarvath’s father served in the Indian Civil Service and following the partition of India, he became Pakistan’s first Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. He also served as Ambassador to Canada, France, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. Her mother was one of Pakistan’s first female members of Parliament, Ambassador to Morocco, and served several times as a delegate to the United Nations. The family moved around quite often. Sarvath received most of her education in the United Kingdom and graduated from The University of Cambridge.
Sarvath married Prince El Hassan on August 28, 1968. The couple first met ten years earlier when they were just eleven years old. They had four children:
- Princess Rahma bint El Hassan (born 1969), married Alaa Batayneh, had one son and one daughter
- Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan (born 1971), married Nasser Judeh, Jordan’s former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, had two sons and two daughters, divorced
- Princess Badiya bint El Hassan (born 1974), married Khaled Edward Blair, had one son
- Prince Rashid bin El Hassan (born 1979), married Zeina Shaban, an Olympian in table tennis, had two sons
Sarvath and her husband served as Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Jordan for 34 years, until 1999 when King Hussein named his eldest son Abdullah to succeed him just days before his death. During this time, Princess Sarvath worked with many organizations and initiatives within Jordan, with much of her focus on education and social welfare. The couple continues to represent Jordan at royal events around the world.
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