The Hashemite royal family is careful to radiate stability, but in rooms there are intrigues and rivalries that began in the time of King Hussein • Queen Mother Nur wants to see her son, Prince Hamza, ascend the throne when the day comes - but King Abdullah has other plans
King Abdullah, Prince Hamza and soldiers in the capital Amman // Photo: AFP, API
The events and reports of the alleged coup attempt in Jordan surprised the Israeli public, who have become accustomed to the governmental stability that has prevailed for decades in the neighboring kingdom to the east.
However, the extensive wave of arrests that included dozens of Jordanian officials, including senior members of the royal family, does not surprise senior officials involved in what is happening within the walls of the Jordanian royal house.
The reports, which the royal family has so far denied, according to which Prince Hamza, the son of King Hussein and his fourth wife Queen Nur, was arrested and placed under house arrest in his palace, do not surprise those who know the royal family, who like any royal house are saturated with intrigue The throne and crown of the king is held by the Jordanian royal family after the British Empire handed over control of the East Jordan past.
Whether or not Prince Hamza, the half-brother of King Abdullah II, did attempt a coup, it is not a shocking surprise as there have been attempts within the royal family to oust the reigning king.
And the details as if taken from a telenovela.
Queen Mother Nur has marked her son Prince Hamza as the one who will head the kingdom in the future and take the place of King Abdullah II, and has even worked hard to do so.
But King Abdullah overthrew his father's wife's plans when he decided to appoint his eldest son, 27-year-old Prince Hussein, much to the displeasure of Queen Mother Nur.
This is not the first time that a family quarrel has turned into a political crisis, the late King Hussein, the father of the current king Abdullah II and Prince Hamza, who was crowned as a teenager due to the mental illness from which his father suffered, faced quite a few attempts to oust him.
In 1999 while dying of cancer and on his deathbed, he ousted his brother, Prince Hassan, who had been the acting regent since 1965 and took away all his powers and transferred them to his son Abdullah II who came to power.
Senior Jordanian officials then claimed that the removal of Prince Hassan was done not only because of the intelligence reports that reached the dying king that his brother was already preparing the ground for his replacement and seizure of the throne, but mainly to ensure that after King Hussein's death power was transferred to his son Abdullah II. Of the two sons of King Hussein born to his fourth wife Queen Nur - Princes Hamza and Hisham who were born a year apart.
It is very possible that Abdullah's decision to change the arrangements established by his father is the one responsible for the current upheaval.
