Succession to the Jordanian throne

Jordanian royal family
Extended royal family
Noor and others
Haya and others
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Line of succession to the Jordanian throne is the line of people who are eligible to succeed to the throne of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The succession is regulated by Article 28 of the Constitution of Jordan.

Succession rules

The throne passes according to agnatic primogeniture, which can be bypassed by decree. The only people eligible to succeed are mentally sound Muslim men who are legitimate and agnatic descendants of Abdullah I of Jordan, born to Muslim parents.

The king has the right to appoint one of his brothers as heir apparent. If the king dies without son or appointed brother, the throne devolves upon the person whom the National Assembly selects from amongst the descendants of Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz, the founder of the Arab Revolt.

A person can be barred from succession by Royal Decree on the ground of unsuitability. His descendants would not be automatically excluded.

Line of succession

List of heirs presumptive and heirs apparent throughout history

Heir apparent to Abdullah I

Heir apparent to Talal

Heirs presumptive and heirs apparent to Hussein

King Hussein's brother, Prince Muhammad, was the heir presumptive to the throne until the birth of Hussein's eldest son, Abdullah. Abdullah was his father's heir apparent from his birth in 1962 until 1965, when King Hussein decided to appoint his 18-year-old brother Hassan as heir apparent because of the unstable times in the 1960s.[1]

Shortly after his marriage to Queen Noor, King Hussein instructed his brother to appoint Prince Ali (Hussein's eldest son from his marriage to Queen Alia) as his heir apparent. However, by 1992, Hussein changed his mind. Besides his own sons, the King seriously regarded his nephew, Prince Talal bin Muhammad, as his possible heir. Finally, on 25 January 1999, shortly before his death, Hussein proclaimed Abdullah his heir apparent again and was succeeded by him on his death.[2]

Heirs apparent to Abdullah II

  • 1999—2004: Hamzah bin Hussein, the third brother of Abdullah II (by decree)
  • 2004—present: Hussein bin Abdullah, the eldest son of Abdullah II (2004–09 by Constitution; 2009–present by decree and Constitution)

References

  • The King and His Prerogatives: Article 2008
  1. ^ Robins, 193.
  2. ^ Robins, 196.
  • Robins, Philip: A History of Jordan Cambridge University Press 2004 ISBN 0-521-59895-8