His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal

His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal was born in Amman on 20th. March, 1947, the youngest son of the then Crown Prince Talal bin Abdullah and Princess Zein El Sharaf bint Jamil, later King Talal and Queen Zein El Sharaf.  His Royal Highness is the younger brother of His Late Majesty King Hussein.  Their branch of the Hashemite family is directly descended from the Prophet Muhammad and is the forty-second generation.

Prince El Hassan had his early schooling in Amman, largely with tutors.  He then
went to Summer Fields School in England, and later to Harrow, graduating from ChristChurch, Oxford University with a B.A. (Hon.) in Oriental Studies, followed by
an M.A.  His Royal Highness has also been awarded the Honorary Degree of Science, Bošziçi University, Turkey (1981; Honorary Degree of Doctor of Civil Law, University
of Durham (1990); Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, Spertus Institute
of Jewish Studies, Chicago, Illinois (1995); Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters, Universitty of Ulster, Northern Ireland (1996); Honorary Doctorate from Moscow
State Institute for International Relations (1997); Doctorate of Laws, University of Birmingham (1999); Honorary Doctorate from the Bilkent University, Turkey (1999); Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws (Hon LLB) from the University of Hertfordshire
and an Honorary Doctorate of Theology from the Faculty of Catholic Theology at the Eberhard-Karls-University in Tübingen, Germany (2001); Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, University of Oklahoma (2002); Honorary Doctorate, University
of York, (2002) and Honorary Doctorate of Laws, University of Portsmouth (2002).  Prince El Hassan received the Abu Bakr Al-Siddique Medal of the Organisation of
Arab Red Crescent and Red Cross Societies in September, 1996; the 1995 Science
and Society Prize in Madrid in 1997.  In April, 2001, His Royal Highness received the inaugural Gandhi/King/Ikeda Community Builders Prize at the Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel during Morehouse College's International Reconciliation Sunday.  His Royal Highness was awarded the Distinguished Foreign Visitor Award at the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation in Boston in April, 2002.     

His Royal Highness was officially invested as Crown Prince to the Hashemite Throne of Jordan in April, 1965.  Since then and until the changes in succession brought about by His Late Majesty King Hussein in January, 1999, he had served as the King’s closest political advisor, confidant and deputy, as well as acting as Regent in the King’s absence from the country.

Prince El Hassan has initiated, founded and is actively involved in a number of Jordanian and international institutes and committees.  In Jordan he has chaired the committees overseeing the first development plan 1973 – 1975, and subsequently the three development plans of 1976 – 1980; 1981 – 1985; and 1986 – 1990.  In 1970, His Royal Highness founded the Royal Scientific Society; in 1978 the annual Bilad Al-Sham Conference; in 1980 the Al Al-Bait Foundation; in 1981 the Arab Thought Forum; and in 1987 the Jordan Higher Council for Science and Technology.  He has also established and directs the Islamic Scientific Academy; the Triannual Conferences on the History and Archaeology of Jordan; the Hashemite Aid and Relief Agency; the Centre for Educational Development; the Institute for Diplomacy; and most recently, the new Al al-Bait University in Mafraq. 

Always interested in young people, and believing in the importance of their community, His Royal Highness founded the Forum Humanum in 1982 (renamed, in 1988, the Arab Youth Forum); and the Crown Prince Award in 1984 (renamed, in 1999, El Hassan Youth Award), and its affiliate programme, the Sabilat El Hassan in 1988.

On the international stage, many of Prince El Hassan’s ideas and initiatives have acted as a catalyst.  Addressing the 36th. Session of the United Nations in 1981, His Royal Highness proposed the establishment of the New International Humanitarian Order, which led to his being asked by the Secretary General to found and co-chair the Independent Commission on International Humanitarian Issues (ICIHI).  The final report of the Commission was adopted as a resolution at the 42nd. General Assembly.

Prince El Hassan also chairs, and is a member of a number of international committees and organisations.  These include: President of the Club of Rome; Co-Chair of the Independent Bureau for Humanitarian Issues; Founding Member and Vice Chairman
of the Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Research and Dialogue (Geneva); Member of the Executive Committee of the International Crisis Group; Member of the International Board of the Council on Foreign Relations;  Honorary Member of UNESCO World Commission on Culture and Development; Member of the Committee of UNESCO International Interreligious Advisory  Committee.  In November 1999, Member of the Informal Advisory Group to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; His Royal Highness became President of the Board of Directors for the Center for Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution at the University of Oklahoma, International Programs Center, USA.  In May 2001, Prince Hassan became a member of the Committee of Notables of the Institut Català de la Mediterrània, and in December 2001, accepted a seat on the Board of the South Centre.  In April, 2002, Prince Hassan joined the Board of Directors of Nuclear Threat Initiative, a charitable organisation working to reduce the global threat from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.  His Royal Highness was Chairman of the Policy Advisory Commission for the World Intellectual Property Organisation from 1999 – 2002.

In the field of religion, His Royal Highness’ contacts and meetings have evolved into a systematic interfaith dialogue, primarily consisting of three ongoing consultations with the Orthodox Centre of the Ecumenical Patriarchate at Chambesy, Switzerland; the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious dialogue at the Vatican; and the Independent Commission on Christian-Muslim-Jewish Relations through the aegis of the Deanery of Windsor. In Jordan, His Royal Highness set up the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies in 1994 to complement these activities. In May 1999, Prince El Hassan was a founding member and became Vice Chairman of the Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Research and Dialogue located in Geneva, Switzerland.  In November, 1999 at the 7th. World Assembly of the World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP), held in Amman, Prince El Hassan accepted the position of Moderator of the WCRP.

Throughout the past thirty-four years, Prince El Hassan has paid numerous official and working visits around the world, and has had occasion to meet and work with many successive heads of state and heads of government, as well as other notable international personalities.  Decorated by over twenty nations, His Royal Highness is the holder of the Order of Al Hussein bin Ali, Jordan’s highest decoration.  He also held the rank of Honorary General in the Jordanian Armed Forces.

Prince El Hassan is the author of six books:  A Study on Jerusalem, Palestinian-Self Determination, Search fo Peace, Christianity in the Arab World, and is co-author
of To Be a Muslim, Continuity, Innovation and Change: Selected Essays, Road Ahead (with Tony Blair)and Islam and Global Dialogue: Religious Pluralism and the Pursuit of Peace.  The books have all been translated into several languages. 
He has also contributed to several newspapers, magazines and periodicals, as well as publications on regional and international issues.  Fluent in Arabic, English and French, His Royal Highness studied Biblical Hebrew as part of his degree course, and has a working knowledge of German, Spanish and Turkish.

His Royal Highness married Her Royal Highness Princess Sarvath in 1968.  Princess Sarvath comes from a distinguished family of the Indian-subcontinent.  They are blessed with three daughters:  Princesses Rahma, Sumaya and Badiya, and a son, Prince Rashid; and with five grandchildren – Tariq, Zein El Sharaf, Ali, Sukayna and Aisha.

Prince El Hassan has actively promoted sports within the Kingdom.  As President of
the Federations for Martial Arts, Polo and Squash, His Royal Highness has overseen
the development of these three activities to competitive international levels.  In addition to holding a 6th. Dan Black Belt in tae kwon do and captaining the Royal Jordanian Polo Team, the Prince enjoys scuba diving, swimming, water-skiing, mountaineering, hiking and skiing.  He is a qualified helicopter pilot, and has several parachute jumps to his name.  Prince El Hassan enjoys reading, Latin American and Flamenco music as well as the cinema.  However, His Royal Highness derives the most pleasure in spending time with his family.

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