Sean Gallup / GettyQueen Rania of Jordan,We all know plenty about Britain’s royals, with the likes of Kate Middleton and soon-to-be-royal Meghan Markle in the headlines daily.
However, there are a number of under-the-radar royals around the world who have considerable influence on the world stage – and on social media.
47-year-old Queen Rania of Jordan, born Rania Al-Abdullah, is known partly for her incredible fashion sense to her four-million strong Instagram following.
She comes from a marketing background, having worked for companies like Citibank and Apple.
However, since becoming Queen in March 1999, she has also been at the forefront of human rights issues – education, in particular – and she once told TechCrunch uses her influence to “empower people and make them believe that they can be role models and leaders for change.”
Scroll down for a look at the the incredible life of Jordan’s Instagram-famous Queen Rania, an ex-Apple employee, human rights activist, and global style icon.
This is 47-year-old Queen Rania of Jordan, born Rania Al-Abdullah in Kuwait on August 31, 1970.
Her full title is Her Majesty The Queen of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
After attending primary and secondary school in Kuwait, Rania earned a degree in Business Administration from the American University in Cairo, then went into marketing. First she worked at Citibank before landing a job at Apple in Amman, Jordan.
Source: BBC
It was there that she met her now husband, King Abdullah II of Jordan, at a dinner party in 1993. They got engaged only two months later, and were married in June that year.
Source: BBC
The “lavish” wedding saw the soon-to-be Queen in a gold-trimmed, short-sleeved Elie Saab gown.
Source: Hello! Magazine
In February 1999, Abdullah ascended the throne, and proclaimed Rania as Queen in March. Now, she travels the world representing Jordan — but she certainly doesn’t stand in her husband’s shadow.
The couple now have two daughters — 21-year-old Princess Iman and 17-year-old Princess Salma — and two sons — 23-year-old Crown Prince Al Hussein Bin Abdullah II and 12-year-old Prince Hasheem.
However, Rania appears to have made the biggest impact on the global stage. She shares images of her life on her Instagram profile — with its 4 million followers — which could easily be confused for the profile of a fashion blogger on occasion.
She calls herself “A mum and a wife with a really cool day job,” but the stylish royal also uses her social media profiles — including Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, on which she has 9.65 million followers — to speak about the causes she deeply cares about.
She is an advocate for education, both within Jordan and around the globe.
She has launched and chaired a number of programs for both children and higher education.
In 2000, she was invited to join the United Nations Children’s Fund’s global leadership initiative.
On being active on Twitter, she told TechCrunch in 2009: ‘I want to tell people more about Jordan, about my life and work, but also to campaign for quality, global education.’ Here, she visits Rohingya refugees at Kutupalong Camp in Bangladesh.
Source: TechCrunch
She also campaigns for cross-cultural dialogue, and joined the United Nations Foundation Board of Directors in 2006.
“It’s not about me being a role model, but about empowering people and making them believe that they can be role models and leaders for change,” she told TechCrunch.
As part of her work, she was met with countless world leaders, including David Cameron at Downing Street in January 2016…
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and First Lady Mrs. Emine Erdoğan during a trip to Ankara…
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau…
German Chancellor Angela Merkel…
Queen Letizia of Spain, with whom she shares a striking resemblance…
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall in 2013…
Melania Trump, during a White House visit in April 2017…
…where she and her husband of course also met Donald…
Michelle Obama…
And even Hillary Clinton in 2003.
Still, at times she seems more like a Hollywood celebrity than a queen.
She certainly seems to travel like one.
Here she is looking pretty fabulous on a helipad in Dubai.
She has graced magazine covers, and received awards for both her humanitarian work and her influence.
Highlights include the Foreign Press Association’s Humanitarian Award in 2016, Glamour’s 2010 Woman of the Year, and appearing on Forbes’ ranking on the world’s 100 most powerful women in 2011.
She’s spent time with plenty of celebrities, like Jennifer Lopez.
If that’s not enough, she’s somehow found the time to write four children’s books — one of which, ‘The Sandwich Swap,’ was a New York Times’ bestseller.
Source: Hello! Magazine
Somehow, she seems pretty down to earth. In one Instagram post, she wrote: “Movies and popcorn, my two favourite things about the weekend.”
She appears to be quite active, and is reportedly into waterskiing, running, and cycling.
Source: BBC.
She also somehow finds some downtime…
…and is around to offer beauty tips and tricks to her daughters.
Despite her own success, she’s also very supportive of her royal husband.
This photo shows Rania at King Abdullah’s Speech from the Throne event before the Jordanian Parliament.
In June, her Instagram post read: “After 24 years, I still feel like the luckiest woman in the world! Happy anniversary, Your Majesty.”
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