by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2015
Queen Dina of Jordan – photo: Wikipedia
Queen Dina of Jordan was the first of four wives of King Hussein I of Jordan. She was born Dina bint ‘Abdu’l-Hamid, the daughter of Abdu’l-Hamid bin Muhammad Abdu’l-Aziz and Fakhria Brav, on December 15, 1929, in Cairo, Egypt. Through her father’s family, she was a member of the House of Hashemite and a third cousin to her future father-in-law King Talal of Jordan.
Dina attended boarding school in England before earning her degree in English literature from Girton College, Cambridge University. She then earned a postgraduate diploma in social science from Bedford College in London. Following her schooling, Dina returned to Egypt where she taught English literature and philosophy at the University of Cairo.
In 1952, while still at Girton College, Dina met her future husband King Hussein of Jordan at the home of a mutual relative in London. Hussein, six years younger than Dina, was a student at the Harrow School in England. That same year, he became King upon his father’s abdication. Two years later, Hussein’s mother Queen Zein announced the couple’s engagement. They married on April 18, 1955, and Dina was given the title Queen of Jordan. However, the marriage was full of discord from the beginning. Hussein intended that his wife would have no political role or input, while the well-educated Dina found this very stifling. There was also much tension between Dina and her mother-in-law. Queen Zein had promoted the wedding but then found that she resented Dina taking her position as the senior female in the kingdom. A daughter was born in 1956, but the marriage was beyond saving:
- Princess Alia (born 1956), married (1) Lieutenant-Colonel Nasser Wasfi Mirza, had one son, divorced (2) Sayyid Mohammed Al-Saleh, had two sons
Later that year, Hussein informed Dina that he was divorcing her. When the divorce became final on June 24, 1957, Dina lost her title of Queen and was styled HRH Princess Dina Abdul-Hamid of Jordan.
Dina later returned to Egypt, and in 1970, and married Asad Sulayman Abd al-Qadir, a high-ranking official in the Palestine Liberation Organization. In 1983, a year after al-Qadir was imprisoned by the Israelis, Dina negotiated his release, along with 8,000 other prisoners.
Princess Dina Abdul-Hamid of Jordan died in Amman, Jordan on August 21, 2019, at the age of 89. Her funeral was held at the Royal Guard Mosque and she was buried at the Royal Cemetery, near Raghadan Palace within the Royal Compound (Al-Marquar) in Amman, Jordan.
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Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Resources at Unofficial Royalty