Princess Salma of Jordan turned 17

Her Royal Highness Princess Salma bint Abdullah is celebrated her 17th birthday yesterday.

The Princess was born to Their Majesties King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan on 26 September 2000 in the Jordanian capital of Amman. At the time, her father had only been on the throne for a year and seven months.

King Abdullah brought her older brother and sister to the hospital just a couple hours after her birth to visit her and the Queen, and big brother Hussein was seen giving his newborn baby sister a little cuddle. Grandmother Princess Muna, as well as other members of the Jordanian Royal Family, came to visit the hospital. Her birth was followed closely by the Jordanian media.

Princess Salma currently attends the International Academy of Amman. It remains to be seen if she follows in the footsteps of her older brother and sister and attends Georgetown University in the United States.


The Jordanian Royal Family at the graduation ceremony of Crown Prince Hussein from Sandhurst. Copyright © 2017, The Royal Hashemite Court

As she is still a student, she does not attend many public events. Besides family events, has been known to make appearances at the occasional engagement alongside her parents like Jordan’s Independence Day.

Unlike her mother and older brother, she does not, yet, have a social media presence. However, both Queen Rania and Crown Prince Hussein regularly share photos including Salma.

Her Royal Highness, a member of the Hashemite family, is a 42nd generation direct descendant of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad.

Her grandfather was His Majesty King Hussein (1935-1999), and her grandmother is the British-born Her Royal Highness Princess Muna al-Hussein. She also has a step-grandmother, the American-born Queen Noor, who was married to King Hussein at the time of his death from cancer.

Her Royal Highness has two older siblings: His Royal Highness Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah (b. 28 June 1994) and Princess Iman bint Abdullah (b. 27 September 1996). The three siblings were joined by a younger brother, His Royal Highness Prince Hashem bin Abdullah (b. 30 January 2005).

As with other females in the Jordanian Royal Family, Princess Salma and her older sister Princess Iman are not in line to the Jordanian throne as the Jordanian Constitution states that only allow Muslim men of sound mind, descended from King Abdullah I, are eligible to ascend to the throne.