Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Shift of Power - Jordanian Harem



A picture says a thosand words!! And indeed this one does!

King Hussein had just died. Fortunes of those closest to him had changed dramatically over night. Queen Noor the beautiful ambitious lebanese/american wife of the King and de facto ruler of his heart ( it was she who called the shots where family, succession and importance was concerned) now had to gracefully (or otherwise ) give way to another Queen. Its never easy the shift of power, and especially not so in a middle eastern harem !! Now we know how the legendary Empress Nurjehan might have looked when her niece Arjumand Banu preceded as the new Empress upon Jehangirs death.

I'd say this picture qualifies for a historic archival picture - it tells us a tale.

Ascendancy was on the cards for Rania though, from being the daughter of the Palestinian doctor and wife of the Kings eldest but 'not in line for succession' son Abdallah, she overnight went onto become Queen of the land , the court and the harem including Queen Noor!

If Queen Noor and the son groomed for succession Prince Hamzah were sidelined so were the officially designated Crown prince and princess Prince Hasan and princess Sarvath, the dusky Pakistani princess.... the play of fate is clear - no one can imagine in their wildest imagination tell what tommorrow will hold, who will be king and who beggar?


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Monday, March 22, 2010

Thai coronation - royal gathering
























































Pic 1: Lalla Salma of Morrocco curtesies to Queen Sirikit; other members of Thai royal family look on.
Pic 2: King Letsie III of Lesotho with his Queen karabo.
Pic 3: Tuanka Nur Zahirah - the Queen of Malaysia arrives
Pic 4: Sheikh Khalifa of Qatar with his 'amazonian' wife sheikha Mozza! greeting the King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit.
Pic 5: CP Vajiralongkorn and CPrincess Srirasmi welcome HIM the Empeor Akhito of Japan.
Pic 6: The King and Queen of Swaziland
Pic 7: Queen Sophia of Spain and Princess Mathilde of Belgium, Duchess of Brabant which is an equivalent to crown princess.
Pic 8: The handsome young King of bhutan - Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck
Pic 9: CP Haakon and CPrincess Mette-marit greet King Bhumibol and Q Sirikit
Pic 10: The much respected princess Sirindhorn of thailand receives Kinf Abdallah of Jordan.

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