Princess Muna Al Hussein
| Muna Al Hussein | |
|---|---|
| File:Princess Muna with sons 1964.jpg Muna in 1964 with her sons, Abdullah II and Faisal | |
| Princess consort of Jordan | |
| Tenure | 25 May 1961 – 21 December 1972 |
| Born | Toni Avril Gardiner[1] 25 April 1941 Chelmondiston, Suffolk, England |
| Spouse | |
| Issue | |
| Father | Walter Percy Gardiner |
| Mother | Doris Elizabeth Sutton |
| Jordanian royal family |
|---|
| File:Coat of arms of Jordan.svg |
| Extended royal family |
Princess Muna Al Hussein[2] (Arabic: منى الحسين, born Toni Avril Gardiner 25 April 1941) is the mother of Abdullah II of Jordan. She was the second wife of King Hussein; the couple divorced on 21 December 1972. She is British by birth.
Early life
[edit | edit source]Toni Avril Gardiner was born in Chelmondiston, Suffolk, England, the daughter of Doris Elizabeth (née Sutton) and Lieutenant Colonel Walter Percy "Tony" Gardiner. She attended Bourne School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya, which was administered by the British Families Education Service for the children of British service personnel stationed overseas, where she was an A-grade field hockey player.
Gardiner's father was a British Army officer who finished his career with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He was the son of Arthur Gardiner, a gamekeeper. He joined the Royal Engineers at the age of 17, and was stationed in Mandatory Palestine for 18 months in the 1930s. He later served in France, North Africa, and Italy during World War II.[3][4]
Marriage and children
[edit | edit source]Gardiner met the King of Jordan, Hussein, while working as a secretarial assistant on the film set of Lawrence of Arabia. The King had allowed his troops to work as extras on this film and would occasionally visit to monitor the production's progress. However, there is another report, stating that Gardiner and the King met when her father began to work as a military adviser in Jordan.[4]
Gardiner married King Hussein in Amman, Jordan, on 25 May 1961, changing her name to Muna Al Hussein upon marriage.[5] It is believed she was not proclaimed queen because the government disapproved of the marriage due to her foreign origin.[5][6] Together they had four children:
- Abdullah (born 1962; now King Abdullah II of Jordan)
- Faisal (born 1963)
- Aisha and Zein (twins, born 1968)
They were divorced on 21 December 1972.[7] She retained the custody of their four children and was given Humar Palace, 15 miles west of Amman.[8] She continues to work and live in Jordan.[citation needed]
Causes and activities
[edit | edit source]She is involved in the development of nursing in Jordan, founding the Princess Muna Scholarship Fund for Nursing.[9] In 1962, she founded the Princess Muna College of Nursing, now the Princess Muna College of Nursing and Allied Health Professions.[10]
She is the WHO Patron for Nursing and Midwifery in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, former Commissioner to the UN High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth and Champion for the Nursing Now Campaign. In a speech at the opening of the 73rd World Health Assembly 2020, she recognised the contribution of healthcare workers for their courage and relentless fight against COVID-19 and said that "applause without action is no longer acceptable".[11]
Honours
[edit | edit source]National
[edit | edit source]- File:Flag of Jordan.svg Jordan:
- File:JOR Al-Hussein ibn Ali Order BAR.svg Grand Cordon with Collar of the Order of al-Hussein bin Ali[citation needed]
- File:JOR Order of the Renaissance GC.SVG Grand Cordon with Brilliants of the Supreme Order of the Renaissance
Foreign
[edit | edit source]- Kingdom of Greece Greek Royal Family: Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Beneficence
- Iran Iranian Imperial Family: Recipient of the Commemorative Medal of the 2,500 year Celebration of the Persian Empire
- File:Flag of Malaysia.svg Malaysia: Honorary Grand Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm[12]
- Kingdom of Romania Romanian Royal Family:
- Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Crown[13][14][15]
- Member, Special Class of the Royal Decoration of the Custodian of the Crown of Romania[16]
- File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden: Member Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star[17]
- File:Flag of Tunisia.svg Tunisia: Grand Cross of the Order of the Republic[18]
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References
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- ^ Princess Muna Scholarship Fund for Nursing Archived 22 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Kafd.jo. Retrieved on 28 July 2015.
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- ^ Romania Regala
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- ^ Order of the Republic
External links
[edit | edit source]
- Ancestry of Antoinette Avril Gardiner (b. 1941)[self-published source]
- King Hussein – His Early Life
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- 1941 births
- Living people
- Hussein of Jordan
- Jordanian people of English descent
- Jordanian royal consorts
- People from Babergh District
- Converts to Islam
- Jordanian princesses by marriage
- British emigrants
- Mothers of Jordanian monarchs
- Recipients of the Order of Al-Hussein bin Ali
- Recipients of Supreme Order of the Renaissance (Jordan)
- Honorary grand commanders of the Order of the Defender of the Realm
- Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Romania)
- Grand Crosses of the Order of Beneficence (Greece)
- Order of the Polar Star
- Recipients of the Order of the Republic (Tunisia)