When King Hussein dies, his American-born fourth wife, Queen Noor, may become a woman without a country or a behind-the-scenes Lady Macbeth, experts said.
Most Mideast analysts said Noor, who’s been dubbed the Princess Diana of Jordan, would see her public role evaporate once Crown Prince Abdullah – King Hussein’s son by a previous marriage – takes over.
“She will not play any political role and will be mostly invisible to the Jordanian people,” said Nick Veliotes, who was ambassador to Jordan from 1978-81.
But the story out of the Jordanian capital is that Noor will continue to work behind the scenes to have her eldest son Hamza be named crown prince – or next in line for the throne – rather than Abdullah’s 4-year-old son, Hussein.
It was Queen Noor who pushed for Hamza, 18, to be named her husband’s successor rather than the 37-year-old Abdullah, Hussein’s son by his second wife.
Jordanians believe that Hamza has a shot at being named crown prince. In King Hussein’s 14-page letter anointing Abdullah as crown prince, the most affectionate language was reserved for Hamza.
The Jordanian press has reported that Hussein wrote a second letter regarding succession that will be revealed after his death.
Veliotes downplayed any lingering tension stemming from Noor’s push for Hamza.
But other experts said that tension would linger.
“She will probably not spend too much time in Jordan,” said Oxford international-relations professor Avi Shlaim. “She’s an American and doesn’t really have the support of the Jordanian people. She is a little isolated.”
Queen Noor was born Lisa Halaby to a Christian Arab-American family, was raised in Washington and graduated from Princeton in 1974.
In a time when there were few prominent Arab-Americans, her father, Najeeb Halaby, once headed Pan Am Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Lisa Halaby met King Hussein while in Jordan to design an aviation university. She took the name Noor al-Hussein – “The Light of Hussein” – when she converted to Islam and married the monarch on June 15, 1978.
Through the years, the fair-haired Noor, 47, has supported increased educational and work opportunities for Jordanian women.
Internationally, she has campaigned against land mines, advocated environmental protection and ecotourism and long supported U.N. social programs for women and children.
Most analysts saw Queen Noor continuing that role.
“She will be welcome in the country but will go about her business,” Veliotes said. “She worked like hell on humanitarian issues, education and cultural issues, and she will remain an ambassador for Jordan abroad.”
That’s a familiar role for her.
“She has her own international constituency,” said Laura Drake, a professor of international relations at American University.
“Being married to the king let her do her own thing internationally, and that will continue.”