In Tulkarm last week, Fadwa Yassin, Rania’s aunt, welcomed the prospect of Rania becoming the queen.
“She is very intelligent, from the beginning she was distinguished,” she said. “As far as I am concerned, she could be queen of the world, not just Jordan.”
The Yassin family is known in Tulkarm, a city along the Green Line, as a large and well-educated one, with many professionals in its ranks.
Rania, who grew up in Kuwait and spent her summer vacations in Tulkarm, has a business degree from the American University in Cairo.
Jordanian analysts believe that Rania could be a major asset in Abdullah’s relations with the Palestinian majority in the Jordanian kingdom, especially upper-class families who play a key role in its economic life.
Hassan, by contrast, is perceived by Palestinians as less friendly toward them than King Hussein, according to a Jordanian political scientist.
Rania would not be the first Palestinian queen of Jordan.
Alia Toukan, Hussein’s third wife, traced her roots to a prominent Nablus family. She died in a 1977 helicopter crash while returning to Amman from a trip to southern Jordan.