Queen Rania of Jordan Wants her Children to be Grounded

Once the world’s youngest living queen, Queen Rania of Jordan now has a whole list of royal duties to fulfill for her country, among those raising her four kids — Prince Hussein, 14, Princess Iman, 12, Princess Salma, 8, and Prince Hashem, 3. Realizing that there is a "major misconception" associated with being part of the royal family, Rania says her status is "just real life," and that even queens aren’t exempt from the worries accompanied with motherhood! The 37-year-old admits she is like any other mother across the globe, saying, "I care about my children. I worry about what they eat. I worry about the influences from their friends."

As for their upbringing, Rania strives for her children — who each have a list of chores — to be as normal as possible. So much in fact, that Rania prefers people call her and her children by their names instead of the traditional title of ‘Your Majesty,’ saying she "makes a conscious effort not to be conscious of [being queen]." Rania and her husband King Abdullah are also responsible for making some minor adjustments to royal traditions in order for their kids to associate themselves with the outside world. Never spending time to discuss their children’s royal future with them — including their oldest son’s position to one day be king — Rania is adamant that the most important lesson for her kids isn’t their power in the world, but rather "the most important thing is to instill them with the right values." Says Rania,

I just feel that values are the shield that you carry with you throughout life. It protects you from whatever life throws at you.

Source: CNN via Oprah; Photo by INF.

Thanks to CBB reader Maya.

Comments

She is amazing, did you know she is the first royalty, I mean elder royalty, and of course Queen that subscribed onto youtube! and what she does on youtube is amazing, if you want to see just type queen rania and you will find her..
Awsome woman and great rolemodel!

- Lisette on August 3rd, 2008

How does this ‘royal’ family count as celebrities? They rule over a country where atrocities against women not merely accepted, they are sanctioned by law. Check out Jordan’s long history with government sanctioned honor killings. Despicable.

- Janna on August 3rd, 2008

She’s an amazing woman and just gorgeous. I’ve always had great admiration for her.

- MaríaM2 on August 3rd, 2008

Ok. at first i read that as “she prefers to call her children by their names instead of your majesty” and thought that was really weird! Of course, as their mother you would call them by their names and not their titles! and then I re-read it. I think that’s cool that she has others call them by their real names and not the titles, as it does seem a way to keep them grounded.

- carie on August 3rd, 2008

I like her. I have never read one article about her where she didn’t come across as anything other than down to earth and considering she lives in such a volatile area of the world, that is even more refreshing.

- LISA on August 3rd, 2008

iam really happy when i see posts about the Royal Family of my country Jordan!she portrays the image and the message of the hidden truth!not all arabs are uneducated or terrorists!we have many people like her!..when i met the royals they were indeed down to earth and grounded!thank u!

- blackrose on August 3rd, 2008

I don’t really know much about Jordan, though -Janna- i have heard there is some human rights controvesy over there. The royal family do seem very likable, which makes it hard to imagine they represent a country that infriges people’s rights.

- Bb on August 3rd, 2008

Janna,
The reason that Queen Rania is so well-known, is that she is known for doing much more for her fellow humans than the vast majority of other royalty around the world. In fact, I never hear of any European royalty doing even a small portion of what she does.
-sits on the Board of Directors of Finca
-works with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations
-working with the UN Children’s Fund
-World Economic Forum
-Dar Al Aman Child Safety Center, focused on preventing abuse and neglect, the first center of its kind in the Middle East

….the list goes on and on, she uses her position as Queen to educate and to help others.

I find honor killings as despicable as you do, but they account for 1/3 of all violent crimes in Jordan, and in 2005, less than 30 occured. Compared to the violent crime and murder rate in this country, we shouldn’t be throwing stones. We should be applauding what she is trying to do to change the situation of women in her own country and around the world.

- Kate on August 3rd, 2008

Janna: I think cbb is trying to be diverse is all the people they feature. I applaud it.

AMEN KATE!
I think people here mad still sadly think all Indo and Arabs & Mesopotatmians & Islamic practising people are terrorists.

- maddox rules on August 3rd, 2008

I can’t help to wonder, since someone here obviously cares so deeply and constantly, what do you do to help prevent violence and inequality in Jordan? violence against women in your own community? Is it better not to mention one positive feature from abroad as revenge on them for being so blood-thirsty and tyrannical? should we just mention Jordan in the context of sexism and violence?

Yes, I would say that to any person’s face anytime,anyday.I was raised in an extremely sexist and empoverished society,and good people live there too.

- eva on August 4th, 2008

Jordan has long been trying to establish peace in the Middle East, being arguably the most crucial moderator in the conflicts. Though honor killings are an abominable practice, keep in mind that they unfortunately stem from the deeply-rooted culture (and not the dominant religion) in the region. King Abdullah has done something about them, but people’s attitudes and beliefs aren’t easily changed. However, in the scheme of things, Jordan is relatively tolerant as far as Arab countries go. It has a representative gov’t. and a constitution, and women have the full right to vote.

About Queen Rania: she is, as people have mentioned, a notable humanitarian and philanthropist (not to mention a fashion icon) who fights for women’s rights and children. She is well-educated, articulate, and fluent in English as well as no doubt many other languages. It would seem that she’s also a wonderful mother .

- M on August 4th, 2008

Jenna, Queen Rania has tried to make Jordan more ‘modern’ since she became Queen. She has been trying to the past few years to get equal rights for the women in that country.
When her youngest daughter was born she appeared in a photoshoot with her pictures being taken from her bed with the baby, surrounded by her husband and other children. This caused some controversy as women where not allowed to pose from bed like that. I think it had something to do with the fact that she was dressed in pyamajas.

You are absolutely right about Jordan’s history, but Queen Rania and her husband are trying to change the country’s reputation and mentality towards women. But she did say in an interview that you can’t change a country’s mentality overnight.

Back on the post: She seems to do an amazing job on trying to raise her kids without the pressure of one day rule the country. Also full credit to her husband for supporting her in being ‘the face’ of Jordan. Not many women married to Kings are seen in the public like this.

- Kim on August 4th, 2008

My point was not that the King and Queen had done nothing to improve life in Jordan, but the fact remains that Jordan is a country where honor killings of women are sanctioned by the government. Not just accepted, but sanctioned.

I’m not suggesting that crime in the US is any better than anywhere else, but it is NOT written into our penal code that is it okay to kill woman who have ‘shamed’ their families (even for crimes committed AGAINST the woman herself). It is, however, the LAW in Jordan that men will receive no punishment (or reduced punishment) for honor killings.

This obviously shouldn’t be anyone’s sole measure of a country, but even just this one abomination makes the ‘rulers’ of Jordan much less than celebrities in my eyes.

(And by the way, honor killings account for 1/3 of all HOMICIDES in Jordan, not 1/3 of all violent crime.)

- Janna on August 4th, 2008

Janna, contrary to your beliefs, it’s not Queen’s Rania fault what was happening in her country. That law you are mentioned has actually been changed couple decades ago and now it’s as illegal as elsewhere. And if it only counts for 1/3 of homicides, that’s even less then 1/3 of all crimes, so you are contradicting yourself.

Queen Rania is amazing woman, who is doing so much for women and children and changing her country for better. What are you doing to help children and women in your commmunity, yet alone around the world?

- Molly on August 4th, 2008

Janna,

How do you feel to live in a country where the state-sanctioned murder of mentally retarded offenders is legal? Where the education system is segregated by race? Where women have limited rights in the workplace in regards to maternity leave etc.? Or where the poor suffer because of limited healthcare?

Wait a minute. That is the U.S. I cannot blame you for all the flaws in this nation, nor can I blame whomeever is elected in November for all the inequities that will continue to exist in the U.S. for many years. You should spend more time focusing on your own life work in the improving the U.S. and all its flaws instead of bashing of a woman whose has devoted her life to improving the situation of women. Are you a human rights activist? Are you a humanitarian? Making a sweeping generalization simply because of one’s nationality is ignorant.

- Annie on August 4th, 2008

Janna I appreciate your comment, I didn’t know to what extent that occured in Jordan. Thankyou.

- Lorraine on August 4th, 2008

Molly, the law is still on the books. Article 340 of the Penal Code says, direct quote: “he who discovers his wife or one of his female relatives committing adultery and kills, wounds, or injures one of them, is exempted from any penalty.” They’ve tried to abolish that particular clause several times, last in 2003, but it’s still there. The way it’s worded they can even get away with premeditated attacks.

I’ve lived in Jordan, and it is a very progressive country, but even progressive countries, as Annie rightly pointed out, have backwards laws. Despite this law being on the books, I don’t believe it makes Rania or Abdullah less of a monarch or a person. They’ve both done a lot of good, as has Queen Noor, Abdullah’s step-mother, who is an American ex-patriate.

- Megan on August 5th, 2008

Gee, I wonder what Janna would prefer? Option A: a woman who stays in her country, knowing of atrocities, and tries to make a difference through her title and influence. Option B: a woman who abandons the country, renouncing her title and/or citizenship, thereby leaving the underrepresented with less resources for bettering their situation.

In my book, I have FAR more respect for the woman in option A.

Seems to me like Janna really didn’t do her research about Queen Raina and preferred to blacklist the country wholesale.

PS – It always impresses me when someone is able to step back and say that she changes her mind, or was wrong or rash or too quick in an earlier statement.

- Lenny on August 6th, 2008