Queen Rania shares touching video of Jordanian traditions ahead of royal wedding

Queen Rania has shared a video on Instagram ahead of her son Crown Prince Hussein’s wedding to Rajwa Al Saif on Thursday.

The clip, directed by Jordanian filmmaker Mohannad Abu Rizk, shows an older woman named Umm Ayman discussing wedding traditions in Jordan, such as dabke dancers and the songs dedicated to the bride and groom.

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The short film is also interspersed with clips of Queen Rania, Prince Hussein and Al Saif, and ends with a shot of the queen holding her firstborn in her arms after giving birth.

“Beautiful traditions and beautiful people… Thank you Umm Ayman for your lovely words, and God bless every Jordanian home! #CelebratingAlHussein,” she captioned the post.

Prince Hussein's wedding is set to take place a few days before the 30th wedding anniversary of his parents King Abdullah II and Queen Rania, who wed on June 10, 1993, at Zahran Palace.

Prince Hussein and Al Saif will also marry at the same venue, followed by a reception at Al Husseiniya Palace.

The celebrations will round off a bumper year for the family, who in March gathered to celebrate the wedding of Princess Iman and Jameel Thermiotis at the family’s palace on the outskirts of Amman.

Last week, Queen Rania shared a look at some of the final preparations for the big event. She posted a video of local artisans as they prepared decorations, fabrics and handicrafts ahead of the big day.

“Thank you all for going the extra mile to make our celebrations extra special. God bless you and the happy couple,” she said in the caption.

Many artisans working for the event commented below the post, sharing their joy at being involved with the wedding.

“I am proud that I was part of this achievement, and our hands worked to decorate this joy,” the account Macrame by Saja, which makes decorative crochet wall hangings, wrote.

Henna designer Zaina al Sharaf wrote: “Thank you for sharing your joy with us and supporting a lot of Jordanian projects, young men and women who are entrepreneurs and creative.”

Earlier in the month, the official logo for the royal wedding was revealed, with the words “we rejoice” written in Arabic calligraphy. A bilingual version of the logo has the Arabic calligraphy along with the words “Jordan's Royal Wedding” and the date, “1-6-23".

Al Saif, 29, is the daughter of Saudi businessman Khalid Al Saif. She was educated in Saudi Arabia before moving to the US for higher education, where she studied architecture at Syracuse University.

The couple announced their engagement in August, when their families gathered at the Al Saif family home in Riyadh.