Hamzah is reputed to be under house arrest since April 2021, after being accused of attempting to destabilise the Kingdom of Jordan and fomenting unrest. Hamzah officially renounced his title as prince in April 2022.
Hamzah received his elementary education in Jordan and Amman, and then attended Harrow School in England. He then joined the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, passing out as a commissioned officer in the Jordan Arab Legion in December 1999, with a number of prizes including the Sandhurst Overseas Sword, granted to the best overseas cadet and the HRH Prince Saud Abdullah Prize, presented to the cadet with the best aggregate mark in academic subjects.
Serving then as an officer in the Jordan Arab Army's 40th Armored Brigade, Hamzah attended a number of military courses and attachments in Jordan, the UK, Poland, Germany and the US. Currently holding the rank of Brigadier in the Jordan Arab Army, he served with the Jordan-United Arab Emirates force operating in former Yugoslavia under the umbrella of international peacekeepers. In the year 2006, he graduated from Harvard University.
Hamzah was sworn in as Regent on numerous occasions and deputized for King Abdullah II on a number of missions in the Kingdom and abroad. He headed the Royal Advisory Committee on the Energy Sector. He is also the Honorary President of the Jordan Basketball Federation, and is the chairman of the board of trustees of the Royal Automobile Museum,[3] the President of the Royal Aero sports Club of Jordan and the President of Al-Shajarah (Tree) Protection Society.[4]
Hamzah is a qualified rotor and fixed wing aircraft pilot, and participates in other sports such as Jujitsu and target-shooting.
Succession issue
On 7 February 1999, King Hussein died and his eldest son Prince Abdullah bin Al Hussein ascended to the throne of Jordan, having two weeks previously been designated to succeed his father as ruler in place of the king's brother, Crown Prince Hassan bin Talal. On the same day, in compliance with his father's wish, King Abdullah II decreed that he, in turn, would be succeeded not by a son of his own but by his half-brother, Hamzah, who was therefore accorded the title of crown prince.[5]
Nearly six years later, on 28 November 2004, King Abdullah removed Hamzah as crown prince.[6] In a letter from Abdullah to Hamzah, read on Jordanian state television, he declared the following:
"Your holding this symbolic position has restrained your freedom and hindered our entrusting you with certain responsibilities that you are fully qualified to undertake."[6]
No successor to the title was named at the time.[6] Abdullah II confirmed that his son Hussein would succeed him by designating him as crown prince on 2 July 2009.[5]
On 3 April 2021, the BBC published a video of Hamzah in which he reported that he has been placed under house arrest as part of a crackdown on critics.[7] It was stated that the video had been passed to the BBC through Hamzah's lawyer.[7] On 7 April 2021, King Abdullah II publicly hinted that his tension with Hamzah, who had pledged loyalty to him two days after his house arrest began,[8][9] was ending and that Hamzah was now "in his palace under my protection."[10][11] Abdullah also stated that the crisis which resulted in Hamzah's house arrest started when Jordan's military chief of staff visited Hamzah and warned him to stop attending meetings with critics of the government.[10] It was reported that Hamzah did not have the military or international support to launch a military coup. [12] As such, some sources reported that the "sedition" was not a planned military coup, but rather a plan "to push for protests that would appear to be a popular uprising with masses on the street", which would subsequently pressure Abdullah to abdicate in Hamzah's favour.[12]
In April 2022, Hamzah relinquished his royal title of prince, stating his "personal convictions" were not in line with "the approaches, trends and modern methods of our institutions".[13] A month earlier, he had reportedly apologized to the King in a letter, wishing to "turn the page on this chapter in our country's and our family's history".[14] In May 2022, the King formally announced that Hamzah had been put under house arrest and his communications and movements were limited due to his "erratic behavior and aspirations".[14]
Marriages and family
Hamzah married his second cousin, Princess Noor bint Asem bin Nayef, at Al-Baraka Palace of Amman on 29 August 2003.[15] The official wedding was held on 27 May 2004 at Zahran Palace. Hamzah and Noor divorced on 9 September 2009.
On 12 January 2012, Hamzah married Basmah Bani Ahmad Al-Outom. The couple issued a total of four daughters and two sons:
Princess Zein bint Hamzah (born 3 November 2012)[16][17]
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