On the day he arrived in Amman to assume his powers, in 1952, King Hussein said he realized that the crowds were not just cheering but also sending messages of encouragement 

On the day he arrived in Amman to assume his powers, in 1952, King Hussein said he realized that the crowds were not just cheering but also sending messages of encouragement. From that moment till the day of his death, the Monarch knew like no one else how to read the crowds, how to give them confidence, security and hope.

There are also numerous humorous stories related to King Hussein. One of my favorite is the one in which he drove an old Bedouin from Amman to Jerash as a taxi driver. The King and the old man talked about crops and agriculture. He ventured into criticizing the Monarch, just to encourage the old man to express his views. But the Bedouin was furious and threatened the “driver” to beat him up severely if he did not stop.

In 1992, King Hussein left his palace in a rush at two in the morning, without his bodyguards, to check on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat who was about to undergo a surgery. A driver spotted the king at a traffic light and blamed him for driving alone at such a late hour. The man insisted to stay with the King and refused to let him go until members of the Royal guard caught up with him.

Jordanians loved King Hussein in happy times and in hardship, and he felt proud of them.

In these sensitive times, let’s remember what King Hussein once said about all attempts and conspiracies against the Kingdom: “Those who are conspiring against Jordan have forgotten one important element: The Jordanian people.”


*Published in Jordan's THE JORDAN TIMES on Nov.12, 2009.