Princess Muna Al Hussein
Jordanian princess
Hussein of Jordan
(m. 1961; div. 1972)| Jordanian royal family |
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| Extended royal family |
| Noor and others Queen Noor
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| Haya and others |
| Muna and others Princess Muna
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| Alia |
| Firyal and others |
| Basma |
| Nayef and others
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Princess Muna Al Hussein[2] (Arabic: منى الحسين, born Toni Avril Gardiner; 25 April 1941) is the mother of Abdullah II of Jordan. She was the second wife of King Hussein; the couple divorced on 21 December 1972. She is British by birth, and changed her name to Muna Al Hussein upon marriage.
Early life
Muna Al Hussein was born in Chelmondiston, Suffolk, England, the daughter of Doris Elizabeth (née Sutton) and Lieutenant Colonel Walter Percy "Tony" Gardiner. She attended Bourne School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya, which was administered by the British Families Education Service for the children of British service personnel stationed overseas, where she was an A-grade field hockey player.
Gardiner's father was a British Army officer who finished his career with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He was the son of Arthur Gardiner, a gamekeeper. He joined the Royal Engineers at the age of 17, and was stationed in Mandatory Palestine for 18 months in the 1930s. He later served in France, North Africa, and Italy during World War II.[3][4]
Marriage and children
Gardiner met the King of Jordan, Hussein, while working as a secretarial assistant on the film set of Lawrence of Arabia. The King had allowed his troops to work as extras on this film and would occasionally visit to monitor the production's progress. However, there is another report, stating that Gardiner and the King met when her father began to work as a military adviser in Jordan.[4]
Gardiner married King Hussein in Amman, Jordan, on 25 May 1961. Together they had four children:
- Abdullah (born 1962; now King Abdullah II of Jordan)
- Faisal (born 1963)
- Aisha and Zein (twins, born 1968)
They were divorced on 21 December 1972.[5] She continues to work and live in Jordan.[citation needed]
Causes and activities
She is involved in the development of nursing in Jordan, founding the Princess Muna Scholarship Fund for Nursing.[6] In 1962, she founded the Princess Muna College of Nursing, now the Princess Muna College of Nursing and Allied Health Professions.[7]
Honours
National
Jordan: 
Grand Cordon with Collar of the Order of al-Hussein bin Ali[citation needed]
Grand Cordon with Brilliants of the Supreme Order of the Renaissance
Foreign
Greek Royal Family: Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Beneficence
Iranian Imperial Family: Recipient of the Commemorative Medal of the 2,500 year Celebration of the Persian Empire
Malaysia: Honorary Grand Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm[8]
Romanian Royal Family: Extra Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Crown[9][10][11]
Sweden: Member Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star[12]
Tunisia: Grand Cross of the Order of the Republic[13]
References
- ^ "The Hashemite Royal Family". The Office of King Hussein. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
- ^ "Statement from the Royal Hashemite Court". The Royal Hashemite Court. 1 June 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
- ^ "Lieutenant-Colonel Tony Gardiner". The Telegraph. 4 January 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
- ^ a b Ewing, Richard (5 February 1999). "Prince's secretary mum who married a king". Coventy Evening Telegraph. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ^ "Hussein's Ex‐Wife Is Given Her 4 Children and Palace". The New York Times. 26 December 1972. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
- ^ Princess Muna Scholarship Fund for Nursing Archived 22 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Kafd.jo. Retrieved on 28 July 2015.
- ^ "Princess Muna College". jrms.gov.jo. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014.
- ^ "Senarai Penuh Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat Persekutuan Tahun 1965" (PDF).
- ^ Romania Regala
- ^ Romania Regala
- ^ Romania Regala
- ^ "State visit to Jordan".
- ^ Order of the Republic
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Princess Muna.
- Ancestry of Antoinette Avril Gardiner (b. 1941)[self-published source]
- King Hussein – His Early Life
| Royal titles | ||
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| Preceded byas queen consort | Princess consort of Jordan 25 May 1961 – 21 December 1972 | Succeeded byas queen consort |
Royal consorts of Jordan | |||
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1 the only royal consort who was not given the rank of queen | |||
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Generations are numbered by descent from Abdullah I. | ||
| 1st generation |
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| 2nd generation |
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| 3rd generation |
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| 4th generation | ||
1 Princess of Jordan by marriage 2 Former queen consort given the title of princess upon divorce 3 Princess of Jordan by birth and marriage | ||
