Three decades ago, Jordanian auditor Nada Ghazi was a teenager watching newlyweds King Abdullah II and Queen Rania being driven in a convertible through the streets of Amman.
Part of the 1993 event was broadcast on Jordanian state television, which dominated the airwaves at the time. There was no internet and Jordanians were dealing with the impact of a financial crisis, triggered four years before by the collapse of the dinar.
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“I was fascinated by public spectacles since I was young,” says Ms Ghazi. “I remember the queen. She had her hair nicely raised. The king was wearing a military suit.”
On June 1, Ms Ghazi will be in front of the television again to watch King Abdullah's 27-year-old son, Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah, marry his fiancée, Saudi architect Rajwa Al Saif.
The wedding, part of which will be broadcast live, is a rare opportunity for Jordanians to see members of the Hashemite monarchy up close on a family occasion.
When King Abdullah married Queen Rania, he was a commander in the military. He was appointed crown prince shortly before his father King Hussein died in 1999.
This has been a busy year for the royal family: Princess Iman, one of the king's four children and his eldest daughter, was married in March to Greek-Venezuelan Jameel Thermiotis, who works in finance in London.
Prince Hussein was appointed Crown Prince in 2018. King Abdullah holds all significant powers in the kingdom, but over the past few years, the Crown Prince has been given a higher profile, including travelling outside the kingdom on official missions.
He heads a foundation bearing his name, which focuses on finding jobs for young Jordanians. Unemployment is officially running at 23 per cent, one percentage point less than a record high last year.
The wedding will start with a religious ceremony at Zahran Palace in west Amman, a relatively affluent part of the city.
The palace is the same venue where Prince Hussein's grandfather, King Hussein, was first married in 1955 to the late Princess Dina. Prince Abdullah was also married at Zahran Palace.
After the union is religiously pronounced, Prince Hussein will then travel by car 15 kilometres farther west for a reception.
Ms Ghazi says she and her four sisters will gather at her mother's house in Jubeiha, a middle-class district in Amman, to watch the portions of the wedding that will be broadcast live.
Her sister Lina said they will order food.
“We are thinking of something Jordanian, like mansaf, since this will be a national occasion,” she said.
Many other Jordanians also plan to watch the wedding.
“I will be turning on the television for sure,” said Sana, a manager at an Amman bank.
“It is not every day that we get to see a historic occasion in Jordan.”
She recalled how she was glued to television when King Hussein died in 1999, with many of the world's leaders in attendance at his funeral.
“It is hard not to think of King Hussein when watching the wedding. He was so humble and he left such a legacy,” she said.
She pointed out that before King Abdullah got married, King Hussein went to ask on his behalf for the hand of the future queen when she was living with her family in north Amman.
Abu Raed, a mechanic who owns a small shop in east Amman, said he will probably join his wife and four children in watching the wedding on television, since June 1 has been declared a holiday.
“I will open the garage but most probably I will be done early, in time for the wedding,” he said.
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Cinco in numbers
Dh3.7 million
The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown
46
The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.
1,000
The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]
50
How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday
3,000
The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
1.1 million
The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
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THE SPECS
Engine: 3.6-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 285bhp
Torque: 353Nm
Price: TBA
On sale: Q2, 2020
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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The Way It Was: My Life with Frank Sinatra by Eliot Weisman and Jennifer Valoppi
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