Prince Faisal bin Hussein

Prince Faisal bin Hussein (Arabic: فيصل بن حسين‎; born 11 October 1963) is a son of King Hussein and Princess Muna, and the younger brother of King Abdullah II. Periodically he has served as regent during his brother's absences abroad.[1][2][3]

Prince Faisal bin Hussein
Prince Faisal bin Al Hussein in 2014
Born	11 October 1963 Amman, Jordan
Spouse	Princess Alia Tabbaa ​ ​ (m. 1987; div. 2008)​ Princess Sara Qabbani ​ ​ (m. 2010; div. 2013)​ Princess Zeina al-Faisal ​ ​ (m. 2014)​
Issue	Princess Ayah Prince Omar Princess Sara Princess Aisha Prince Abdullah Prince Muhammad
House	Hashemite
Father	Hussein of Jordan
Mother	Muna Al-Hussein

Education

Faisal was born in Amman, Jordan. After early schooling in Amman, Faisal was sent in 1970 to his mother's native United Kingdom where he attended St. Edmund's School in Hindhead, England. The following year, he moved to the United States where he attended the Bement School in Deerfield, Massachusetts for the next two years. He then moved schools again, this time to Eaglebrook School, also in Deerfield. In 1978, Feisal commenced his high school education at St. Albans School in Washington, D.C., from which he graduated in 1981. His initial university education was at Brown University from which he graduated in 1985 with a ScB degree in electrical engineering. The prince also earned a master's degree in management from the London Business School in 1988.[4] During his university years, Faisal took flying lessons and obtained a private pilot's license.[5]

Military service

Prior to graduating from Brown University, Faisal served in the Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF), where he received helicopter training. In the summer of 1985, he gained his RJAF wings and then underwent officer training with the Royal Air Force at Cranwell. Remaining at Cranwell, he did his RAF Basic Flying Training in 1986 before moving to RAF Valley where he completed Advanced Flying Training on jets and received his RAF wings in 1987. Later that year, Feisal completed further flying training at the Tactical Weapons Unit, at Chivenor in Devon.[5]

Other

Faisal has been President of the Jordan Olympic Committee since 2003 and Chairman and Founder of Generations For Peace since 2007, a non-profit peace building organization, the brain child of his ex-wife Sarah Kabbani who was also his advisor for many years before their marriage. Following a period of strategic development and implementation of unique peace through sport programs run jointly by Sarah and Faisal, he was elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee in 2010.

From time to time, he has served as regent while his brother the king was out of the country.[3][1][2]

Personal life

Prince Faisal has married three times. He married for the first time in August 1987. The bride, Alia Tabbaa is the daughter of Sayyid Tawfik al-Tabbah, founder and president of Royal Jordanian Airlines and his wife, Lamia Addem. They have four children together:

• Princess Ayah (11 February 1990)
• Prince Omar (22 October 1993)
• Princess Sara (27 March 1997) (twin of Aisha)
• Princess Aisha (27 March 1997) (twin of Sara)

Prince Faisal and Princess Alia divorced in April 2008.[6]

Prince Faisal's second wife was Sara Bassam Qabbani. They were engaged on 20 March 2010 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and were married on 24 May 2010. They represented Jordan at the July 2011 wedding of Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco. [7] Prince Faisal and Sara were divorced on 14 September 2013. The couple had no children together.

On 4 January 2014, Prince Faisal married Jordanian radio presenter Zeina Lubbadeh, daughter of businessman Dr. Fares Lubbadeh. The wedding ceremony was held at her parents' home in Amman, Jordan. The couple have two sons:

• Prince Abdullah bin Faisal (born 17 February 2016)
• Prince Muhammad bin Faisal (born 8 April 2017)

Honours

National honours

•  Jordan:
  • Knight Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Renaissance, Special Class[8][9][10]
  • Knight Grand Cordon of the Order of the Star of Jordan[8][9][10]
  • Knight Grand Cordon of the Order of Independence[8][9][10]
  • Knight Grand Cordon of the Order of Military Merit[8][9][10]
  • Recipient of the Al-Hussein Medal of Excellence, 1st Class[8][10]
  • Recipient of the Long Service Medal[8][10]
  • Recipient of the Administrative & Leadership Competence Medal[8][10]
  • Recipient of the Administrative & Technical Competence Medal[8][10]
  • Recipient of the Administrative & Training Competence Medal[8][10]

Foreign honours

•  Chile:
  • Grand Cross of the Order of Bernardo O'Higgins[8][10]
•  Taiwan:
  • Special Grand Cordon of the Order of the Cloud and Banner[8][10]
•  France:
  • Grand Officer of the Order of the Legion of Honour[8][10]
•  Oman:
  • Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Sultan Qaboos[8]
•  Spain:
  • Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic[11]
•  United States:
  • Commander of the Legion of Merit[8][10]

References

1. "Jordan News Agency (Petra) -Prince Faisal sworn in as Regent". petra.gov.jo.
2. "Jordan News Agency (Petra) -Prince Faisal sworn in as Regent". petra.gov.jo.
3. "Regent visits army, air force units". Jordan Times.
4. "Prince Feisal marks birthday on Wednesday". Petra news agency, 10 October 2017.
5. "Princess Haya". Archived from the original on 26 June 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
6. His Royal Highness Prince Faisal Ibn Al-Hussein of Jordan to deliver opening session keynote address at WaterSmart Innovations Archived 21 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine
7. "Monaco Royal Wedding". Royal Hats. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
8. Olympic.org, list of Honours of Prince Faisal
9. Pinterest.com, Prince Faisal wearing the Medals of the 4 Orders received by him
10. upload.wikimedia.org, Ribbon bars of some of the decorations of Prince Faisal
11. "Boletín Oficial del Estado" (PDF). boe.es (in Spanish).

External links