Jordan celebrates royal wedding of Crown Prince Hussein and Rajwa al-Seif

Jordan celebrated the royal wedding of Crown Prince Al Hussein Bin Abdullah and Crown Princess Rajwa al-Seif in Jordan's capital city on Thursday.

Thursday was declared a national holiday in commemoration of the royal couple's marriage.

Prince Al Hussein first announced his marriage to al-Seif in August 2022.

Al-Seif, 29 years old, comes from a prominent family in Saudi Arabia, the Sudairis, and is the first cousin of King Salman of Saudi Arabia.

She studied architecture at Syracuse University in New York and speaks Arabic, English and French.

Thursday's wedding is a three-part affair, starting with a traditional Islamic marriage "katb ktab" in the Zahran Palace in Amman which will see the two sign an official marriage contract.

The bride and groom will then drive across Amman to the al-Husseiniya Palace in the traditional motorcade consisting of eight red Land Rovers, 11 motorcycles, as well as horse and camel riders.

There they will host a reception for 1,700 guests alongside the king and queen, culminating in the cutting of the wedding cake.

Finally, the nuptial day will conclude with a banquet attended by members of the Hashemite royal family, foreign and Arab heads of state, as well as other high-ranking officials.

The wedding is the result of months of preparation, with the roads of Amman that the motorcade will cross being subject to renovation and repair.

On Wednesday, King Abdullah II hosted a dinner for over 4,000 Jordanians in line with local customs.

Members of civil society, businesspeople, officials and community representatives dined on Mansaf, the country's national dish comprising of stewed lamb on rice drenched in a fermented yoghurt sauce.

The day prior, a free concert featuring Egyptian singer Tamer Hosny was held in the country's capital, attended by tens of thousands of Jordanians.

On 22 May, Queen Rania hosted a Henna and dinner party for 500 women across the kingdom, a common pre-wedding tradition in Jordan.

Jordan had another royal wedding just two-and-a-half months earlier when Princess Iman married a Venezuelan venture capitalist Jameel Alexander Thermiotis.

Thursday's wedding is higher-profile given that the Crown Prince is getting married and Jordan is gaining a future queen.

Crown Prince Al Hussein, 28, has focused most of his royal activities on youth empowerment and employment, particularly in the fields of technology.

The Crown Prince has rarely commented on matters of internal politics but has taken on an increasingly public role in recent years through his foundation and with foreign leaders.

The Crown Prince frequently accompanies King Abdullah on official visits, meeting with US President Joe Biden in February 2023.

He has also given speeches at the UN, delivering Jordan’s address at the General Assembly in May 2017.

The Crown Prince also "regularly enjoys practising various sports, including football, diving and archery. He also enjoys riding motorbikes and adventure sports," the Hashemite Royal Court said.