Rania of Jordan

Queen of Jordan

Met in September 2008. Lunch in New York for the Millennium Campaign

Rania Al-Yassin, of Palestinian descent, born in 1970 in Kuwait, married Prince Abdullah II of Jordan on June 10, 1993. Contrary to all expectations, on February 7, 1999 King Hussein’s son inherited the Crown. It had been expected that Prince Hassan, King Hussein’s brother, would succeed him.  Rania Al-Abdullah thus became the world’s youngest queen. After studying at the American University in Cairo and then at HEC University in Geneva, this mother of four got involved in defending children who are victims of violence and abuse. Her battles for peace earned her 13th place among the 100 most influential women in the world in 2004 according to Forbes magazine. On September 22, 2008 in New York, she lunched with Wendi Murdoch and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy to discuss the Millennium Campaign, a vast program that aims to reduce extreme poverty worldwide by 2015.