Queen Rania celebrates 53rd birthday after eventful year

It's the latest in a long line of recent revelries for the Jordanian royal, including weddings, graduations and official state visits

Queen Rania during the dinner banquet on the wedding day of Crown Prince Al Hussein and Princess Rajwa Al Hussein in Amman. Photo: Office of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah

Queen Rania at the 2022 Web Summit in Lisbon in November last year

King Abdullah II and Queen Rania with Pope Francis at the Vatican in November last year

Queen Rania with Queen Camilla and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark in November last year

Queen Rania at Prince Hashem's high school graduation in May this year

Queen Rania during the henna party that she hosted to celebrate the wedding of Princess Iman in March this year

Queen Rania during a Christmas tree lighting in Fuheis, Jordan, last December

Queen Rania during the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit in New York last year

The Jordanian royals at their daughter Princess Salma's graduation in May this year

Queen Rania at the wedding ceremony of Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa in June this year

Jordan's Queen Rania marks her 53rd birthday on Thursday.

The event is the latest in a busy year of high-profile celebrations for the royal, including the weddings of her daughter Princess Iman to Jameel Thermiotis in March, and her son Crown Prince Hussein to Princess Rajwa in June, plus the university graduation of Princess Salma and the high school graduation of Prince Hashem.

Queen Rania at the wedding ceremony of Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa. Photo: Office of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah

On each occasion, she turned heads with her fashion choices. At Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa's wedding, she wore a high-collared Dior black and gold couture gown, with an embellished neckline and wide cuffs.

For Princess Iman's wedding, the queen hosted a henna party, wearing a maroon robe over a pink dress. She even lent her daughter a white and gold belt she wore to her own wedding 30 years ago to King Abdullah II in 1993.

Queen Rania and King Abdullah II also celebrated their own 30th anniversary this year.

The royal couple were also present at the graduation ceremonies of their two youngest children, including Princess Salma's from the University of Southern California in May.

It's little wonder she captioned a post following Prince Hashem's graduation a few days later as: “This mum needs to catch her breath!”.

The Jordanian royals at Princess Salma's graduation. Photo: Office of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah

Queen Rania is known for championing women's rights and has organised several initiatives this year in support. During Ramadan, she joined 500 women across the country to perform Umrah in Makkah.

At the invitation of Queen Camilla of the UK, she attended a reception at Buckingham Palace to raise awareness of violence against women and girls. She has been on several state visits, including to Japan, Spain, Portugal and the US, where she met first lady Jill Biden, who was also at Prince Hussein's wedding.

Most recently, she shared images of her visit to the village of Hawar in Irbid, writing: “Thanks to Um Mohammad and all the women I met today at Firyal Kofahi’s Kitchen – what an incredible example of women lifting each other up.”

Further, Queen Rania is a member of the Earthshot Prize Council, which awards individuals for environmentalism. Last September, she spoke at a New York summit calling for collective action against climate change.

She has also spoken out about the global refugee crisis, with Jordan having the second-highest share of refugees per capita in the world.

At the Paris Peace Forum in November, she addressed the disparities in the treatment of refugees based on their country of origin.

“What accounts for the contrast in compassion? Does skin colour make all the difference?” she said, alluding at the time to the preferential treatment of Ukranian refugees versus those from countries such as Syria, Myanmar and South Sudan.