(Sunday Times-UK) Margarette Driscoll - If the veiled woman has become the symbol of the culture clash between East and West, Queen Rania is her nemesis. Jordan's young queen is on a charm offensive to present a new kind of Arab woman to the world. Rania, 35, born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents, the privileged daughter of a pediatrician and educated in international schools, has never worn the veil, nor will she. "In Jordan we believe there should be no coercion under Islam," she says. Before her marriage to the Sandhurst-educated Prince Abdullah, Rania was an investment banker with the American Citibank and in marketing for Apple. She did not expect to become queen - King Hussein changed the succession from his brother to his son on his deathbed.
2006-06-01 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive