Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa of Jordan Welcome First Baby — a Girl Who Shares a Name with Another Royal!
The baby is the first grandchild of Queen Rania and King Abdullah
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The future Princess Rajwa and Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan on their engagement day, August 17, 2022.Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa of Jordan are parents!
The Royal Hashemite Court announced on Aug. 3 that the royal couple welcomed their first child together the same day.
The new addition makes Crown Prince Hussein's parents, Queen Rania and King Abdullah of Jordan, first-time grandparents. The King and Queen of Jordan are also parents to Princess Iman, Princess Salma and Prince Hashem.
Hussein and Rajwa welcomed a baby girl that they named Iman, meaning their daughter shares a name with her aunt!
"Their Royal Highnesses are immensely overjoyed and thankful on welcoming their firstborn, and call on well-wishers to consider donating to Al-Aman Fund for the Future of Orphans in lieu of sending gifts or flowers," the announcement said.
Because the child is female, she will not be included in the line of succession to the throne, to which her father is currently heir. According to the country’s constitution, the throne is hereditary to King Abdullah Ibn Al-Hussein's dynasty and passes through males.
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Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan and Princess Rajwa at the wedding of his sister Princess Iman to Jameel Thermiotis in March 2023.Related: All About Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa's Relationship (and Baby on the Way!)
In the spring, the Royal Hashemite Court announced that Princess Rajwa was pregnant.
"The Royal Hashemite Court is pleased to announce that Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II and Princess Rajwa Al Hussein are expecting their first baby this summer," the court said in a statement on April 10.
"The Royal Hashemite Court extends its sincere congratulations to Their Majesties King Abdullah II and Queen Rania Al Abdullah on this occasion and wishes Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Al Hussein and Princess Rajwa good health and joy as they welcome their baby."
Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa tied the knot in a grand royal wedding on June 1, 2023. Royals from around the world traveled to Amman for the major celebration, including Prince William and Kate Middleton, as well as many other royal representatives.
The wedding was held nearly a year after Queen Rania and King Abdullah’s eldest son announced his engagement to Rajwa Alseif, who received a princess title when they tied the knot.
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Princess Rajwa and Crown Prince Hussein at Zahran Palace on their June 1, 2023 wedding day in Amman, Jordan.According to Vogue Arabia, Crown Prince Hussein met his future wife in an old-fashioned way: through a friend.
"I met Rajwa through an old friend from school," Hussein said at a forum hosted by the Crown Prince Foundation in late April 2023, along with a loving word. "I consider myself lucky because it is not every day you meet someone like Rajwa," he added.
It’s unclear which school the Crown Prince was referring to, though they both attended college in the United States. Princess Rajwa was born in Saudi Arabia and earned a degree in architecture from Syracuse University in New York, as well as a professional designation degree in visual communications from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles.
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Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa at the AFC Asian Cup quarter-final football match between Tajikistan and Jordan at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al-Rayyan in February 2024.Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!
Meanwhile, Crown Prince Hussein is a graduate of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in England and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
The Jordanian royal family expands with the birth of Princess Rajwa and Crown Prince Hussein’s new baby, and Queen Rania previously teased her excitement about becoming a grandmother.
"I always used to always say my favorite title is mama, but I think that’s going to quickly change to the Arabic word for grandma," she said during an appearance on Good Morning America in September 2022. The topic came up in a conversation about how her two eldest children — Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Iman — were getting married in 2023.
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(From left) Prince Hasheem, Princess Iman, Jameel Thermiotis, Queen Rania, Princess Rajwa, Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Salma in a photo Queen Rania posted on her birthday in August 2022."My goal is to be, like, fun grandma,” Queen Rania explained. "We have a saying in Arabic, 'No person is dearer to us more than our children than our grandchildren.' So I’m really excited to have babies in my life soon."
"I won’t apply pressure, but I will," the Queen joked.
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