Dina bint Abdul-Hamid

IssuePrincess Alia bint HusseinHouseHashemiteFatherSharif Abdul-Hamid bin Muhammad Abdul-Aziz Al-AunMotherFahria Brav

Dina bint Abdul-Hamid (Arabic: دينا بنت عبد الحميد; 15 December 1929 – 21 August 2019) was a Hashemite princess and Queen of Jordan from 1955 until 1957^[1] as the first wife of King Hussein. She was the mother to Hussein's oldest child, Princess Alia bint Hussein. She and the king were married from 1955 to 1957, and in 1970 she married a high-ranking official in the PLO. She was a graduate of the University of Cambridge and a lecturer in English literature at Cairo University.

Early life and education

Dina was born on 15 December 1929 in Cairo, Kingdom of Egypt to Sharif Abdul-Hamid bin Muhammad Abdul-Aziz Al-Aun (1898–1955) and his wife, Fahria Brav (died 1982).^{[citation needed]} A member of the House of Hashim, she had the honorific title sharifa of Mecca as an agnatic descendant of Hasan ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad. Dina was also a third cousin of her future father-in-law, King Talal of Jordan. Through her mother, Dina was connected to Egypt's Circassian elite. Her father and uncles claimed a waqf that consisted of nearly 2,000 feddans.^[2]

Like many children of the landed Arab aristocracy, Dina was sent to a boarding school in England. She next obtained a degree in English literature from Girton College, Cambridge University, and a post graduate diploma in social science from Bedford College, London.^[3]

After her return home, she began to teach English literature and philosophy at the University of Cairo while residing in the affluent suburb of Maadi with her parents.^[3] As a young woman, Dina was considered beautiful, highly educated, sophisticated and emancipated. She was well-liked by her entourage and friends.^[4][5]

Queen of Jordan

Dina first met her distant cousin Hussein in 1952 in London at the home of a relative from Iraq. The King was then studying at the Harrow School while she was studying at Girton College, Cambridge and was pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree and obtained it with honours.^[2][6] After her graduation, she returned to Egypt, where Hussein visited her in Maadi thereafter.

In 1954, two years after her son's accession to the throne, Hussein's mother, the Dowager Queen Zein, who exerted a significant influence early in his reign, announced the engagement of the King and Dina. The match was considered to be perfect as Dina was a Hashemite princess, and brought up with the best education the West had to offer.^[7] The union was also strongly favoured by Gamal Abdel Nasser, the future President of Egypt.^[8] They were married on 19 April 1955 at Raghadan Palace.^[9] The bride was 25 and the groom was 19 at the time.^[2]

Upon her marriage, Dina became Queen of Jordan. According to author Isis Fahmy, who interviewed Dina in the presence of her husband on their wedding day, Hussein determinedly said that she would have no political role. Fahmy noted that Hussein had intended to exercise authority over Dina, who was herself a strong personality, and that his mother viewed her as a threat to her own status.^[10]

It soon became apparent that the king and queen had little in common. On 13 February 1956, she gave birth to the king's first child, Princess Alia, but the arrival of a child did not help the royal marriage.^[2]

Princess of Jordan