H.H. Prince El Hassan Bin al Talal
His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal was born in Amman in 1947. HRH is the youngest son of Their late Majesties King Talal and Queen Zein El Sharaf, the brother of His late Majesty King Hussein, and the uncle of HM King Abdullah II.
HRH served as Jordan’s Prince from April 1965 until January 1999. HRHs early schooling was in Amman. He later went to Summerfields, followed by Harrow and then Christ Church, Oxford University from where he graduated with a B.A. (Hons.) in Oriental Studies.
Prince Hassan chaired the committees overseeing Jordan’s first development plan (1973-1975) and the three subsequent development plans (1976–1980, 1981–1985 and 1986–1990). HRH had a critical role in the Jordan-Israel Peace negotiations that culminated in the Peace Treaty between the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the State of Israel in 1994.
A pluralist and staunch campaigner for the rights of all to live in peace and dignity, HRH established the Arab Thought Forum, the Royal Institute for Interfaith Studies, the Higher Council for Science and Technology, The Royal Scientific Society, the West Asia North Africa Institute (WANA) and the Regional Security Centre in Jordan. Prince Hassan’s international commitments have included co-chairing the Independent Commission on International Humanitarian Issues, serving as Commissioner on Legal Empowerment of the Poor and launching the West Asia-North Africa Forum (WANA). A pioneer of interfaith dialogue and understanding, Prince Hassan initiated and hosted on-going consultations with the Orthodox Centre of the Ecumenical Patriarchate at Chambesy, Switzerland and the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue at the Vatican. Prince Hassan is co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for Inter- religious and Intercultural Research and Dialogue (FIIRD). Now President Emeritus, Prince Hassan was Moderator of the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP) from 1999-2006.
Prince Hassan has long had an active engagement with environmentally focused organisations, in particular the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC) Network, and the Jordan based Badia Research and Development Program (in co-operation with the British Royal Geographical Society). Prince Hassan recently served as the Chairman of the UN Secretary- General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation, UNSGAB and continues to work on water related issues as the Chairman of the High Level Forum for the Blue Peace Middle East plan.
HRH Prince Hassan is the author of several books, articles and papers, which have been including A Study on Jerusalem, Search for Peace, Palestinian Self-Determination and in 2004 in collaboration with Alain Elkann, To be a Muslim: Islam, Peace and Democracy. Fluent in Arabic, English and French, HRH also has a working knowledge of German, Spanish and Turkish. He studied Biblical Hebrew as an undergraduate. Prince Hassan is the recipient of numerous honorary degrees from across the world.
As President of the Federations for Martial Arts, Polo and Squash, Prince Hassan has overseen the development of these three sports in Jordan to competitive international levels. HRH is himself an 8th Dan Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and captain of the Royal Jordanian Polo Team. He is a qualified helicopter pilot, parachutistand qualified scuba diver. He skis and plays squash.
His Royal Highness married Her Royal Highness Princess Sarvath, in 1968. They are blessed with four children, Princesses Rahma, Sumaya, Badiya and Prince Rashid, and nine grandchildren.
