Hussein of Jordan

Hussein bin Talal (November 14, 1935 - February 7, 1999) was the King of Jordan (1952-1999) and an amateur radio operator (call sign JY1).

On July 20, 1951, King Abdullah I traveled to Jerusalem to perform his Friday prayers with his young grandson, Prince Hussein. He was assassinated by a lone gunman on the steps of one of the holiest shrines of Islam, the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Hussein is said to have been saved from a bullet by a medal his grandfather had recently awarded him and insisted he wear.

Abdullah's eldest son, King Talal was crowned but within a year was forced to resign because of an mental illness. His son Prince Hussein was proclaimed King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on August 11, 1952 and was enthroned May 2, 1953.

Hussein survived numerous assassination attempts, but on February 7, 1999, he lost his fight to cancer. Just before his death, he changed his will and declared his son, instead of his brother, to be his successor.

He was married to:

• Sharifa Dina bint 'Abdu'l-Hamid, an Egyptian-born third cousin of King Hussein's father, King Talal, on April 19, 1955. A graduate of Cambridge University and a former lecturer in English literature at Cairo University, the bride was 26 to the groom's 19. They separated in 1956 and were divorced in 1957, at which time Queen Dina became known as Princess Dina. She became an Egyptian citizen in 1963, and in October 1970, Princess Dina of Jordan married Asad Sulayman Abd al-Qadir, alias Salah Taamari, a Palestinian guerilla commando who became a high-ranking official in the P. L. O.
  • Daughter: Alia (born 1956).
• Antoinette (Toni) Avril Gardiner (born Chelmondiston, England, 1941, renamed Muna al-Hussein on conversion to Islam), on May 25, 1961. An award-winning field hockey player, former typist, and daughter of a British army officer turned innkeeper, Lt. Col. Walter Percy Gardiner, she was given the title Princess Muna al Hussein on January 30, 1962, divorced 1972.
  • Children: Abdullah (born 1962), Faisal (born 1963), Aisha (born 1968), Zein (born 1968)
• Alia Baha ed Din Toukan, on December 24, 1972. A daughter of Bahauddin Toukan, former Jordanian ambassador to the Court of St. James's, she was titled Queen Alia al Hussein. She was born in Cairo, Egypt, on December 25, 1948, and died in a helicopter crash in Amman, Jordan, on February 9, 1977.
  • Children: Haya (born 1972), Ali (born 1975)
  • Adopted daughter: Abir, (born 1972, adopted 1976)
• Elisabeth (Lisa) Najeeb Halaby (renamed Nur (Noor) al-Hussein on her conversion to Islam), on June 15, 1978, titled Queen Nur al Hussein.
  • Children: Hamzah (born 1980), Hashim (born 1981), Iman (born 1983), Raiyah (born 1986)

He was succeeded as king by his eldest son Abdullah II of Jordan.