Rajwa al-Saif, Saudi architect and future queen of Jordan

A 29-year-old Saudi woman has just joined the Jordanian royal family. By marrying Crown Prince Hussein, the eldest son of Queen Rania and King Abdullah II, this Thursday, June 1, Rajwa al-Saif becomes one of the powerhouses of the Hashemite Kingdom.

Born on April 28, 1994 in Riyadh, Rajwa al-Saif (his name means “hope” in Arabic) belongs to one of the richest families in Saudi Arabia. One of four children, she is the youngest daughter of Khaled bin Musaed bin Saif bin Abdulaziz El-Saif and Aza bint Nayef Abdulaziz Ahmed al-Sudeiri. According to the magazine Hello , The young woman’s father, a civil engineer trained at the American University of Beirut, is a powerful businessman and the owner of the El Seif Group business conglomerate. As for his mother, Azza al-Sudayri, she is the cousin of the mother of the current King Salman bin Abdelaziz al-Saud, details. Opinion .

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International life

After finishing high school in Saudi Arabia, Rajwa al-Saif flew to New York. There he joins the ranks of Syracuse University to study architecture. His training led him to spend several months in Dubai, a stay he described as “memorable”. Graduating in 2017, the polyglot (she speaks Arabic, English and French) moved to Los Angeles to join the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. After some time, he got his first job as a designer at Patterns studio. Before returning to his hometown of Riyadh to offer his expertise to Designlab Experience.

More than 600 kilometers away, Prince Hussein is meanwhile pursuing a course in international history at Washington’s prestigious Georgetown University. It was thanks to a friend he met during American classes that he met his partner. “I met my fiancée, Rajwa, through one of my classmates,” he said Opinion, in May. In this same interview, the crown prince considers himself “lucky” because “it’s not every day you meet someone like Rajva”. After losing sight of each other for a while, the duo reconnected. “Fate did the rest,” adds the future king.

It seems that everything happened very quickly between the two young people. On August 17, 2022, we learned that the eldest son of the King and Queen of Jordan got engaged. Making the news official, the main stakeholder then wrote on his Instagram page: “Thank God. We pray that God will give us his blessing. I am grateful to my beloved Jordanian family for their sincere support and well wishes.” In one of the first official portraits of the future sovereign couple, Rajwa Al-Saif wore a pleated blue gown by Greek designer Christos Kostarellos. A style choice that was very reminiscent of Issa’s signature blue dress worn by Kate Middleton on the day she announced her engagement to Prince William on November 16, 2010.

Cavalry and future queen

As for interests, the Saudi, an artist at heart, likes to paint and do things with his hands. As is often the case with royal families, he is an excellent horseman. Witness this photo Prince Hussein posted on Instagram on April 28 to celebrate his then-fiancée’s 29th birthday.

Officially a princess by marrying Prince Hussein, Rajwa Al-Saif today seems to be following in the footsteps of her mother-in-law, Queen Rania, who even moved her to tears during a traditional henna ceremony on May 22. honor before his wedding.

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