Her Majesty Queen of Jordan Rania Al Abdullah and Jorge Sampaio, UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilisations, received the 14th North-South Prize of the Council of Europe 2009, 16 March 2009, Lisbon, Portugal

Playing Favourites

If asked to name my five favorite women in the world, Queen Rania is one of them. I adore her at the risk of losing any journalistic integrity that I probably don’t have.

Without question she is a Smart Sensuality, Smarty Pants woman of epic proportions, a wife and mother to an entire nation, as well as her husband and four children.

I’ve tracked Queen Rania for almost two years now and find her to be the most progressive woman on the planet, just slightly ahead of Hillary Clinton, who is truly coming into her own in 2009. 

In the best sense, Queen Rania is part of a royal couple and her role would be considered breathrough in America, not only the Middle East but anywhere in the world. Reading her websites and queenly schedule, I can confirm that Queen Rania may just be the hardest-working woman in the world.

Reading about Queen Rania in the Jordan Times or London newspapers, following her on Twitter, I see that she moves in a variety of high-profile initiatives, with far more freedom and influence than America’s first lady Michelle Obama.

DAVOS/SWITZERLAND, 25JAN08 - Bono (R), William H. Gates III, Chairman, Microsoft Corporation, USA (2R), H.M. Queen Rania (3R) Al Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum, Gordon Brown (4R), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Yar’ Adua, President of Nigeria (5R) and other participants stand together to ‘Call to Action on the Millenium Development Goals’ during the Annual Meeting 2008 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 25, 2008. Copyright World Economic Forum (www.weforum.org) swiss-image.ch/Photo by Andy Mettler This photo from Davos, Switzerland 2008 sums up Queen Rania’s influence in the world: She stands between British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Bill Gates, with Bono an arm’s length away.

As some Muslim women make arguments on A of C why burqas are good for women, Queen Rania is one of the world’s most articulate female change agents. Burqas are not in her closet, although she admits that it irks her that Westerners see the burqa as a symbol of helplessness and oppression: “To us it’s a sign of modesty and devotion to God and it’s up to women whether they wear it.”  via London Times

As a Muslim women, Her Majesty is committed to bringing her directly honest, moxie viewpoint to the most influential and important people on the planet. One doesn’t get the feeling that the Jordanian palace PR gurus have her on a tight leash.

Most of these movers and shakers are men, and this regal woman holds her own beautifully on the world stage. In this respect, Queen Rania is the ultimate 21st century woman’s role model for all women, not only Muslims.

Peace in Palestine

I was impressed to see Queen Rania in meetings with Jewish leaders this week. Her appearance isn’t a total surprise, given her frequent speeches about the stalled Palestinian/Israeli peace talks and the fact that her parents are Palestinian, although she was born in Kuwait.

Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania meet with delegates representing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Amman on Monday (Photo by Yousef Allan)On Monday King Abdullah and Queen Rania met with delegates representing the American Israel Public Affairs committee on the subject of stalled peace talks between Irael and Palestine.