The Prince and Princess of Wales make surprise trip to Jordan for royal wedding
Prince William and Kate Middleton are greeted by Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Queen Rania as they arrive at the royal wedding
The Prince and Princess of Wales were surprise guests at the wedding of Jordan’s crown prince, joining heads of state and world leaders at the royal nuptials.
William and Kate are key members on a high-powered guest list for the marriage of Prince Hussein, 28, and his wife Rajwa Alseif, 29, who is an architect from Saudi Arabia.
William, dressed in a dark suit and blue tie, was joined by Kate, who wore a pleated, dusky pink dress, as they briefly greeted Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Queen Rania upon their arrival at the palace.
They were followed by Princess Beatrice and her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, among other guests including King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, and US First Lady Jill Biden.
The royal nuptials have drawn massive crowds, with parties being held across the nation.
Guests gathered in an open-air gazebo decked with flowers in the palace gardens for a traditional Muslim wedding ceremony known as katb al-ketab.
The crowd erupted in applause after the pair signed the marriage contract.
The kingdom declared Thursday a public holiday so crowds of people could gather after the wedding service.
A procession of red Land Rover jeeps are to drive past the crowds in a nod to the traditional procession of horse riders clad in red coats during the reign of the country’s founder, King Abdullah I.
Tens of thousands of well-wishers are also expected to flock to free concerts and cultural events.
The signing of the marriage contract will take place at Zahran Palace in Amman, and huge screens have been set up nationwide for crowds to watch the occasion unfold.
The wedding comes after a difficult period for Jordan’s monarchy, including a public rift between the King and his half-brother, with some commentators interpreting the national celebrations as a way of shoring up public support at a time of persistent economic difficulties.
William and Kate’s trip to Jordan was not announced in advance, and their arrival was only confirmed by Jordanian state media a few hours before the start of the wedding ceremony.
The prince and princess have ties with Jordan, with Kate’s family living in Amman for a few years in the mid-1980s when she was young girl, and the couple enjoyed a 2021 holiday in the Middle East country with their children.
Both William and Crown Prince Hussein are graduates of Britain's Royal Military Academy of Sandhurst, in Berkshire.
More recently, the two spent time together when the crown prince hosted William during his 2018 trip to Jordan and even watched England’s World Cup match against Panama together.
At the time, Kensington Palace posted two photos on Twitter showing the two sitting on a sofa at the Beit Al Urdun Palace, watching the match on a huge screen.
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