Last year, the Jordanian royal family announced Crown Prince Hussein is set to wed Rajwa Khaled bin Musaed bin Saif bin Abdulaziz Al Saif; Hussein and Rajwa will tie the knot in June 2023.
"The Royal Hashemite Court extends its sincere congratulations to Their Majesties King Abdullah II and Queen Rania Al Abdullah on this occasion, and wishes His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II and Miss Rajwa Khalid Alseif a lifetime of happiness," the palace shared in a statement.
But who is Rajwa Al Saif? Here, 9 things to know about Princess Rajwa, Jordan's future queen:
1. She was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Rajwa was born in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, on April 28, 1994. Her parents are Khalid al-Saif, a businessman, and Azza al-Sudairi. She has three older siblings: Faisal, Nayef, and Dana.
Her dad, Khalid, is from the Subai tribe. According to the Hashemite Royal Court, "The Alseif family descends from the Subai tribe, and have been the sheikhs of the town of Attar in Sudair, Najd, since the beginning of the reign of King Abdulaziz Al Saud."
Her last name is spelled many different ways: Al Saif, Alsaif, Alseif, al-Saif. Since they're all translations of Arabic, they're all technically correct.
2. Her mother is a first cousin of King Salman.
Rajwa embraces her mom, Azza.
Her mom is in the Al Sudairi family, the same family as Saudi Arabia's King Salman. His mother is the late Hussa bint Ahmed Al Sudairi, and his first wife, who passed away in 2011, was Sultana bint Turki Al Suadiri.
The Al Sudairi family is very prominent in Saudi Arabia; the "Sudairi Seven" is a name given to an alliance of seven princes in the Saudi royal family, the children of King Abdulaziz and Hussa, who was supposedly his favorite wife.
3. Rajwa went to college in America at Syracuse University.
She got her B.A. in architecture from Syracuse in 2017.
During her junior year, she went on a trip to Dubai with her sustainable start-up class. "What made this trip so memorable for me, was seeing the students in the studio experience Arabic culture and architecture for the first time," Rajwa told Syracuse University News. "Dubai is very intriguing, having contemporary architecture while also attempting to maintain the traditional beauty of the Arabic culture and history." It appears that she went by Rajwa Alseif during her time in American university. She also organized a symposium on start-ups in the desert during her time at school.
She graduated with Honors in spring 2017 (she's just after minute 59 in this video of graduation), and to her graduation, she wore shiny silver sneakers:
Rajwa graduating
After, she went on to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, where she got an A.A., Professional Designation, in Visual Communications in 2019.
4. She worked in Los Angeles at an Architecture firm.
She reportedly worked at a firm called P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S. She then moved back home to Riyadh to work at the Designlab Experience design studio.
5. Rajwa got engaged to Hussein in August 2022.
Little is known about how Rajwa and Hussein met, but they announced their engagement in August 2022. Their engagement took place at Rajwa's family home in Riyadh. Hussein wrote on Instagram, "Alhamdullillah. We pray that God grants us His blessings. Grateful to my dear Jordanian family for their heartfelt support and kind wishes."
Queen Rania shared video footage of the event:
In another post, Rania wrote, "I didn’t think it was possible to hold so much joy in my heart! Congratulations to my eldest Prince Hussein and his beautiful bride-to-be, Rajwa."
6. She started appearing with the Jordanian royal family more frequently in 2023.
She undertook her first official engagement with Hussein in October 2022:
She started appearing more regularly with the royals in 2023.
Rajwa Al Saif, Queen Rania, and Princess Iman
At Princess Iman's wedding, in particular, Rajwa was front and center with her future in-laws.
Queen Rania and Rajwa at Rajwa’s henna party.
Ahead of Rajwa's wedding to Hussein, Queen Rania threw her a henna party. "I’ll never forget how happy His Majesty and I were when Al Hussein told us he wanted to marry Rajwa. She is the perfect answer to all my prayers for him," Queen Rania said in her remarks. "May you always be each other’s source of happiness and support.
7. She is an equestrian.
In celebration of her 28th birthday, Hussein shared a black-and-white portrait on Instagram of Rajwa with a horse, writing, "Wishing my dearest Rajwa a very happy birthday! Looking forward to a life of love, compassion and commitment with you." Ahead of her wedding, Al Arabiya shared photos of Rajwa horseback riding.
Her other hobbies include drawing and handmade arts.
8. She is trilingual.
Rajwa is fluent in English, French, and her native Arabic.
9. Her title upon marriage is "Her Royal Highness Princess Rajwa Al Hussein."
After she married Hussein on June 1, 2023, the Royal Hashemite Court announced that she will be styled as Her Royal Highness Princess Rajwa Al Hussein, and, when Hussein takes the throne, she will be Queen Rajwa.
Emily Burack
Senior News Editor
Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, celebrities, the royals, and a wide range of other topics. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.
