It’s not as if the new ruler owed any filial duty to Noor. His mother was Princess Mona, the British-born second wife of Hussein, who divorced her 17 years ago. But Noor was conspicuously absent at Abdullah’s formal coronation two weeks ago. The speed of her eclipse caught many Jordanians by surprise. “It’s something we expected, but maybe we didn’t expect it so soon and so publicly,” says one prominent political scientist. “People are longing to bury the past. And Noor, it seems, is part of the past.”
The future belongs to King Abdullah II–who has been a surprise himself. He wasn’t supposed to be king at all. The heir apparent had been his uncle Hassan until the title was transferred to Abdullah mere days before Hussein’s death. Had the old man lived long enough, he was widely expected to pass the mantle eventually to his reputed favorite, Noor’s firstborn son, Hamzah, now 19. Skeptics howled when Abdullah’s name came up; they said he was a shallow playboy who would never live up to the throne’s demands. Wonder of wonders, he has displayed a natural flair for the job–so far. He is mending neglected relations with Syria and Saudi Arabia, at the same time impressing Jordan’s longtime allies in Washington and London with his political savvy and his evident pro-Western instincts.
His job is about to get a lot harder. Acute water shortages are predicted for this summer as the kingdom endures the worst drought in half a century. The economy has been stuck in deep recession for the past three years. Unemployment is estimated at 27 percent; two Jordanians out of three are living on less than $60 a month. Last week the prime minister, Abdur-Ra’uf Rawabdeh, publicly compared the kingdom to a patient in “an intensive-care unit.” Worse yet, a proposed hike in the national sales tax has raised worries of political unrest like the bread riots that shook the country in 1996. “There are big problems, and anything can happen,” says economist Fahed Fanek. “Suddenly the government itself admits that things are very difficult.” All the same, Jordanians are rooting for their new king. “He’s the kid who came from nowhere,” says Mustafa Hamarneh, director of the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan. “People want to give him a chance.”
Noor could only dream of such a break. No matter how hard she tried, she never won more than grudging acceptance from her subjects. Most ordinary Jordanians regarded her as “the king’s wife–not their queen,” in the words of a family friend. Noor appeared to be gaining some genuine popularity at last as Hussein fought his losing battle against cancer. Jordanians respected the devotion she showed to their beloved king throughout his five-month hospitalization in America. As soon as the king was dead, however, the public shifted its loyalty to his designated heir, Abdullah. Noor was effectively forgotten. “The struggle between them has been going on for a long time,” says a political scientist. “Conditions are almost totally against her.” All four of Noor’s children skipped the coronation. Hamzah was said to be preparing for exams at Sandhurst, the British military academy. The other three were with their mother in the United States while she made a series of public appearances. Her spokeswoman says the royal travel schedule was finalized last month after Abdullah told Noor his coronation would be private and low-key; by the time the queen learned otherwise, it was too late to revise her plans.
Rumors ran wild in Amman. People asked why Hamzah couldn’t have done his studying on the five-hour flight home from England. Abdullah has named Hamzah as his crown prince, in obedience to their father’s dying wish. Nevertheless, the new king has a son of his own, 4-year-old Prince Hussein. There’s nothing to keep the monarch from rescinding his half-brother’s right of succession–just as there was nothing to keep King Hussein from doing the same to Hassan. “It’s obvious there’s a rift,” warns the editor in chief of one popular weekly newspaper. “But it’s too early even to hint that Abdullah is thinking about a change.” Right now the king has more pressing issues on his mind.
