Princess Sarvath El Hassan (born Sarvath Ikramullah on 24 July 1947) is a Jordanian royal and the wife of

Prince Hassan bin Talal Prince Hassan bin Talal (, born 20 March 1947) is a member of the Jordanian royal family who was previously Crown Prince from 1965 to 1999, being removed just three weeks before King Hussein's death. He is now 20th in line to succeed his nephew ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

. She was born in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

on 24 July 1947, to a prominent

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims (; ) 'Mussalman'' also used in this work./ref> are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising over 70% of the global Bengali population, they are the second-largest ...

family, the

Suhrawardy family The Suhrawardy family with over nine hundred years of recorded history has been one of the oldest leading noble families and political dynasties of the Indian subcontinent and is regarded as an important influencer during the Bengali Renaiss ...

of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

Family

Her father, the

Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...

-born Ambassador

Mohammed Ikramullah Mohammad Ikramullah Hilal-e-Pakistan, Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG (hon), Order of the Indian Empire, CIE, Knight Grand Cross Portuguese Order of Christ (; 15 January 1903 – 12 September 1963) was a figure in the administration ...

, was a senior member of the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

in the government of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

prior to Partition, having joined the ICS in 1927. He went on to join the Partition Committee of

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 187611 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the inception of Pa ...

, later becoming

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

's first Secretary of State for

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

and Ambassador to Canada, France,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and the United Kingdom. His last post was as chairman of the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

Economic Committee. Sarvath's

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

mother, the Kolkata-born

Begum Begum (also begüm, bagum, begom, begam, baigum or beygum) is an honorific title from Central Asia, Central and South Asia, often used by leading women in society, including Royal family, royals, aristocrats, first lady, first ladies and prime ...

Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah Begum Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah (22 July 1915 – 11 December 2000) was a Bengali Pakistani politician, diplomat and author. She was the first Muslim woman to earn a PhD from the University of London. She was Pakistan's ambassador to Mo ...

, was a writer and one of Pakistan's first two female members of

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. Begum Ikramullah also served as Ambassador to

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

and several times as a delegate to the United Nations. Princess Savrath has three siblings, including the late Bangladeshi barrister

Salma Sobhan Salma Sobhan (; 11 August 1937 – 30 December 2003) was a Bangladeshi lawyer, academic and human rights activist. She became the first woman barrister in Pakistan in 1959. A member of the law faculty of the University of Dhaka, she was a co-foun ...

and the British-Canadian filmmaker

Naz Ikramullah Naz Ikramullah Ashraf (née Naz Ikramullah) is a British-Canadian artist and film producer of Pakistani-Bengali origin. Background Ikramullah was born in London, England to a Muslim family. Her father, Mohammed Ikramullah, later became the ...

."Princess Sarvath on the Education of Women in the Muslim World"
''Arabic News''. 10 December 1998. Her paternal uncle,

Mohammad Hidayatullah Mohammad Hidayatullah (; 17 December 1905 – 18 September 1992) was an eminent Indian people, Indian jurist, scholar, linguist, educationist, writer and politician, statesman who served as the acting President of India on two different occasio ...

, was Chief Justice of India from 1968 to 1970, Vice President of India from 1979 to 1984, and served as acting president of India twice. Her maternal uncle,

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy (8 September 18925 December 1963) was an East Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 to 1957 and before that as the Prime Minister of Bengal from 1946 to ...

, was the

Prime Minister of Bengal The prime minister of Bengal was the head of government of Bengal Presidency, Bengal Province and the Leader of the House in the Bengal Legislative Assembly (1937—1947), Bengal Legislative Assembly in British India. The position was dissolved u ...

and the

Prime Minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan (, Roman Urdu, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Cabinet of Pakistan, cabinet, desp ...

. Her mother's paternal family are direct descendants of the 12th-century

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

philosopher, Shaikh Shabuddin Suhrawardy. Many of her male and female forebears, on both sides of her family, were poets, writers and academics, including the social reformer

Begum Badar un nissa Akhtar Begum Badar un Nissa Akhtar (1894 -1956; Midnapore) was an Indian social reformer and educator from Cuttack, Odisha. She is known for challenging the stringent and orthodox societal norms and for encouraging and enabling Muslim girls to receiv ...

, Ibrahim Suhrawardy and

Abdullah Al-Mamun Suhrawardy Sir Abdullah al-Mamun Suhrawardy (31 May 1877 – 13 January 1935) was a Bengali Islamic scholar, barrister, and academic. He was the Tagore Law Lecturer in 1911 and involved in notable educational work. Abdullah was the first Indian to attain ...

. She lived in all the countries that her parents were posted to, but mostly received her education in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

, and received her bachelor's degree from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. She first met Prince Hassan in London in 1958, when they were both 11 years old.

Marriage and children

Princess Sarvath married

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

, on 28 August 1968. They live in one of the oldest houses in

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

and have four children: * Princess Rahma (born 13 August 1969) * Princess Sumaya (born 14 May 1971) * Princess Badiya (born 28 March 1974) * Prince Rashid (born 20 May 1979)

Public life

Princess Sarvath served as Crown Princess of Jordan for over 30 years. She initiated, sponsored and continues to support many projects and activities in Jordan, mainly in the field of education, in addition to issues pertaining to women and the family,

social welfare Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance p ...

and health. Much of her work focuses on promoting education, assisting disadvantaged women, encouraging

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community contributing to a noble cause. In many cases, people doing community service are compensated in other ways, such as gettin ...

and helping people with

mental Mental may refer to: * of or relating to the mind Films * ''Mental'' (2012 film), an Australian comedy-drama film starring Toni Collette * ''Mental'' (2016 film), a Bangladeshi romantic-action film starring Shakib Khan * ''Mental'', a 2008 docu ...

and

learning disabilities Learning disability, learning disorder, or learning difficulty (British English) is a condition in the brain that causes difficulties comprehending or processing information and can be caused by several different factors. Given the "difficulty ...

. In 1974, she founded the Bunayat Centre for Special Education, which teaches life skills to disabled children and provides support to their parents. Princess Sarvath and her husband continue to represent Jordan at international royal events. In 2013, she rode in the carriage of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

at Royal Ascot. There have been tensions between Princess Sarvath and her sister-in-law, Queen Noor. The tensions between the Queen, who wanted her own son

Hamzah The hamza ( ') () is an Arabic script character that, in the Arabic alphabet, denotes a glottal stop and, in non-Arabic languages, indicates a diphthong, vowel, or other features, depending on the language. Derived from the letter '' ʿayn'' ( ...

to be proclaimed crown prince, and the then-Crown Princess Sarvath were exacerbated by the matter of succession during the last days of King Hussein's life. According to off-the-record briefings by anonymous palace officials in Amman, a rumour was circulated that Princess Sarvath had drawn up plans for a redecoration of the Jordanian royal apartment before

King Hussein Hussein bin Talal (14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of Jordan since 1921, Hussein was traditionally considered a 40th-generati ...

had even died of cancer. This allegedly occurred while the King was undergoing chemotherapy in the United States and Prince Hassan was running the country in his place. In contrast, other sources state that the Princess only gave orders for some state apartments to be spruced up in preparation to receive a foreign delegation. Still other accounts imply that only a kitchen was renovated for the visit of Germany's then-President,

Roman Herzog Roman Herzog (; 5 April 1934 – 10 January 2017) was a German politician, judge and legal scholar, who served as the president of Germany from 1994 to 1999. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he was the first president to be elec ...

, who was travelling with his native cook. According to US-based newspaper '' Pakistan Link'', the theory that the Princess' Pakistani roots prevented her husband's accession has been "much publicized in Pakistan". She received an honorary degree of Doctor of Education from the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

in 2015 to mark her achievements as a longstanding and influential supporter of inspiring young people.

Organizations

;(Former) Member: * Council of UNESCO's International Fund for the Promotion of Culture * Council of Foundation of the

International Baccalaureate Organization The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...

* International Board of

Voluntary Services Overseas VSO is a not-for-profit international development organization charity with a vision for "a fair world for everyone" and a mission to "create lasting change through volunteering". VSO delivers development impact through a blended volunteer model c ...

* International Board of the

United World Colleges The United World Colleges (UWC) is an international network of schools and educational programmes with the shared aim of "making education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future." The organisation was fo ...

(present) ;Patron: * Young Muslim Women's Association since 1972 * Malath Foundation for Humanistic Care * Jordanian Charity Association for Phenylketonuria * Jordanian Osteoporosis Prevention Society ;Chairwoman: * El Hassan Bin Talal Award for Academic Excellence committee * National Selection Committee for the

John F. Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

Middle East Educational

Fellowship A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

;(Vice) President: * Jordan National Red Crescent Society – Honorary VP from 1994 to 2004 * Arab Society for Learning Difficulties – Honorary President since 2001 * Centre for

Phonetics Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds or, in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians ...

Research at the

University of Jordan The University of Jordan (), often abbreviated UJ or JU, is a public university located in Amman, Jordan. Founded in 1962, and it is the largest and oldest institution of higher education in Jordan. It is located in the capital Amman in the J ...

– President ;Founded: * Jordanian United World Colleges National Committee; chair from 1981 to 1995 *

Amman Baccalaureate School The Amman Baccalaureate School (ABS) is a private, fee-paying school and nonprofit organization, licensed by the Jordanian Ministry of Education. It is a coeducational day school and prepares its students for the International Baccalaureate Diplo ...

; has chaired its Board of Trustees since 1981

Interests

Princess Sarvath speaks several languages, including Arabic, English, French and

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

. The Princess is honorary president of the Jordanian Badminton Federation and was the first woman in Jordan to obtain a black belt in

Taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

Honours

National honours

* : Dame Grand Cordon of the

Supreme Order of the Renaissance The Supreme Order of the Renaissance (,) is the second-most senior order of merit in the Kingdom of Jordan. History The order was instituted in 1917 by Emir Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca. According to correspondence between the British For ...

, Special Class

Foreign honours

* : Dame Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Precious Crown The is a Japanese order, established on January 4, 1888 by Emperor Meiji of Japan. Since the Order of the Rising Sun at that time was an Order for men, it was established as an Order for women. Originally the order had five classes, but on Apr ...

* : Dame Grand Cross of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

* : Recipient of the King Willem-Alexander Inauguration Medal * : Grand Cross of the Order of the Crescent of Excellence * : Member Grand Cross of the

Royal Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star ( Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden''), sometimes translated as the Royal Order of the North Star, is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order o ...

* : Recipient of the 70th Birthday Badge Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf

Awards

International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

: Recipient of the 'Abu Bakr Al Sadik Medal'

Foreign awards

* : Honorary Degree of

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

of the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English language, English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universiti ...

* : Honorary Degree of the

References

External links

*
The Citizens Foundation: Princess Sarvath El Hassan Visits TCF School

The National Commission for Human Development: The Pakistan Human Development Fund (PHDF) , Patrons
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarvath, Princess 1947 births Living people Alumni of the University of Cambridge Pakistani women philanthropists House of Hashim Pakistani emigrants to Jordan Pakistani female taekwondo practitioners Jordanian Muslims Pakistani Muslims Bengali Muslims Suhrawardy family Karachi Grammar School alumni People from Kolkata 21st-century Bengalis 20th-century Bengalis Jordanian female taekwondo practitioners Jordanian princesses by marriage Jordanian people of Bengali descent People from Lahore People educated at Channing School Crown princesses Recipients of Supreme Order of the Renaissance (Jordan) Grand Cordons of the Order of the Precious Crown Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star