When Jordan's Crown Prince Hussein marries Rajwa Al Saif in Amman next week, their wedding car will be accompanied through the streets of the capital by red 1980s Land Rovers with sawn-off tops, and air-cooled red BMW motorcycles.
The vintage machines belong to the Royal Convoy Unit, part of a special military formation known as the Royal Guards, that will be part of the pomp and ceremony around the wedding on June 1.
The unit will escort the Crown Prince and his bride from the 1950s palace where their wedding ceremony will take place, to a newer and larger one that will host the wedding reception. Crowds are expected to line the streets along the 10km route.
The wedding is a rare occasion for Jordanians to see members of the Hashemite monarchy up close and to witness in action the symbolism associated with it. The Hashemites, who came from Hijaz in modern-day Saudi Arabia, have ruled Jordan since its inception as a British protectorate in 1921. In past centuries, the Hashemites, who are related to the Prophet Mohammed, were main political players in the Arabian Peninsula.
The wedding convoy will consist of 16 Land Rovers and 10 BMW motorcycles, some with side cars, said Muntaha Abdullat, a consultant on Hashemite heritage in Jordan who headed the documentation department at the Royal Palace.
The Royal Guards trace their origin to an infantry battalion established under the late King Abdullah I, Jordan's first monarch, who ruled from 1921 to 1951. Under his grandson, King Hussein, the unit adopted the colour red for its vehicles, instead of regular army brown, Ms Abdullat said.
“Red is the colour of the Hashemites,” she said, pointing out that the flag of the Hashemites is red.
At the front of the convoy, in one of the Land Rovers, will be the Royal Guards' chief, who will be wearing Jordanian headgear, a red and white scarf secured by an agal cord. The cars will carry the unit's yellow and green flag, which has a lion's figure as its crest, as well as the Hashemite flag.
The type of car the bride and groom will be riding in has not been disclosed.
The convoy will progress slowly to benefit the crowds cheering them from the roadside, Ms Abdullat said.
She expects significant crowds, partly because two thirds of Jordan's population are of similar age to the crown prince, or younger. It is also the first time in modern-day Jordan that the wedding of a king's son coincides with the son being a crown prince.
“It will be an almost unique scene,” she said.
Land Rover stopped making the boxy shaped model that defined the company in 2016, while BMW still makes a “heritage” model that looks similar to its motorcycles of old.
