Royal Wedding is Here: Jordan royals marry into Saudi family with ties to Mohammed bin Salman

Jordan’s 28-year-old Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah II on Thursday married into a prominent Saudi Arabian business family in a glitzy ceremony attended by some 140 guests, including US first lady Jill Biden and Britain’s Prince and Princess of Wales.

A number of international royals and heads of state arrived at Zahran Palace in the capital, Amman, to watch Prince Hussein and his fiancee – a Saudi architect and graduate of Syracuse University in New York – Rajwa Alseif tie the knot.

29-year-old Alseif is related to Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), crown prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, through her mother – Azza bint Nayef Abdulaziz Ahmad Al Sudairi – who hails from the prominent Al-Sudairi family.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman is one of the ‘Sudairi Seven’, the seven full brothers born to King Abdulaziz and Hussa bint Ahmed Al-Sudair.

Keep Reading

• Oil Prices Slide on Concerns about US Debt Ceiling & OPEC+ Talks
• Saudi women’s labour market participation jumps to 35% in 5 years

Alseif will now be known as Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess of Jordan, and when Prince Hussein takes the throne, her title will change to Queen Rajwa.

The royal wedding started by 9:00 AM ET, when the king and queen of Jordan began receiving guests at the venue. The armed forces were seen playing music as attendees arrived at the Zahran Palace to congratulate the royal family.

Outside the palace, scores of Jordanians cheered and waved flags as they waited for the motorcade carrying the newlyweds along a roughly 9.6-km route across Amman. Photos of the couple and the flag of Jordan had been adorning the streets of the capital for days.

Relations between Jordan and Saudi Arabia have recently warmed up following years of tension. On a recent trip to Jordan, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said he was interested in pushing ties [with Jordan] to a new phase, as reported by Saudi media.