Jordan is busy with various events celebrating the wedding of Crown Prince Hussein and his Saudi fiancée Rajwa Al Saif. The royal wedding takes place on Thursday, but the celebrations began nearly a week ago with air shows, fireworks and free concerts.

Jordanians circulated on social media photos and videos from the bride's henna night party last week, and from the bride's white dress that bore the phrase "I see you and you will love life," a verse adapted from a poem by the famous Tunisian poet Abu al-Qasim Chebbi (1909-1934).

A video posted by the Royal Court on YouTube shows the Crown Prince's sisters, Princess Salma and Iman, and their mother, Queen Rania, singing and clapping.

Queen Rania delivered a speech during the henna night, in which she said, "Al Hussein is my first joy, my eldest son (..). Like any mother, I have long dreamed of seeing him as a bride." "Hussein is your son and you are his family, and this is your wedding," she said.

Lara Al-Lati, a 35-year-old tourism office employee and social activist who participated in the henna night, said, "The ceremony was as simple as any Jordanian night of joy. Even the food was Jordanian dishes."

Lara shared photos from the ceremony on her Facebook account. "The atmosphere, decorations and garlands have a simple Jordanian character that makes you feel like you are at a family party," she adds.

Prime Minister prepares for Crown Prince's wedding #Werejoice_in_Hussein#الاردن #عمون pic.twitter.com/vJ5qTb2r4z

— Ammon News Agency (@ammonnews) May 31, 2023

Performances & Celebrations

After the henna night, a parade was held in the sky of Amman with drones painted with their lights in the form of a royal crown and phrases including "We rejoice in Hussein".

Suhad al-Idrissi, 45, her sister and niece, wore T-shirts reading "We rejoice in Hussein," and carried Jordanian flags, and attended a free concert at Amman Stadium on Monday performed by Arab artists Ragheb Alama, Tamer Hosni, Ahmed Saad, Diana Karazon and Zain Awad.

"This is Jordan's groom and we should celebrate it," Idrissi said, adding, "It is an opportunity to live the atmosphere of joy, as for a long time we have not seen this joy in Jordan," which suffers from difficult economic conditions, noting that she prepared sweets and roses to be distributed on the wedding day.

Hussain Al Jassmi will hold another free concert next Saturday at the Roman Amphitheater in central Amman.

The Red Royal Procession, which appears on royal and national occasions, will roam the streets of Amman on Thursday, escorting the car of the 28-year-old prince and his 28-year-old bride, as well as accompanying the wedding processions of King Abdullah and King Hussein.

The parade, which will carry 71 members of the Royal Guard, will consist of 14 red Land Rover convertibles and 10 motorcycles.

After the marriage, a reception and dinner are held at Al Husseiniya Palace.

Crown

Prince Hussein, the eldest of King Abdullah and Queen Rania's sons, became crown prince in July 2009 at the age of 15.

The young prince is active on social media, especially through the Instagram account, where he has 4 million followers, and posts photos of his activities, climbing in Wadi Rum and his military training, in addition to pictures with his family members and fiancée.

The prince finished high school at King's Academy in Jordan in 2012 and studied international history at Georgetown University in the United States before taking military lessons, like his father and grandfather King Hussein.

He has a brother, Prince Hashem, in addition to his two sisters.

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A post shared by Al Hussein bin Abdullah II (@alhusseinjo)

The bride, Rajwa Al Saif, was born in Riyadh and has two brothers, Faisal and Nayef, and a sister Dana. She received her secondary education in Saudi Arabia and completed her higher education at the School of Architecture at Syracuse University in New York.

The wedding will be attended by international figures, most notably Jill Biden, the wife of the US president, and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and his wife.

Since graduating from the British Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2017, Prince Hussein has been in the spotlight.