- Ra'ad bin Zeid
Infobox_pretender
English name = Ra'ad bin Zeid
birth_date =18 February 1936
birthplace =Berlin
death_date =
deathplace =
regnal =
title =
throne =Iraq
pretend from =October 18 1970
year = 1958
king = Faisal II
relationship = Cousin
house =Hashemite
father =Prince Zeid
mother = Princess Fahrelnissa
spouse = Margaretha Lind
children =
predecessor =Prince Zeid
successor =
footnotes =Prince Ra'ad bin Zeid ( _ar. الأمير رعد بن زيد) (born
18 February 1936 inBerlin where his father was Iraqi ambassador at the time) is the son ofPrince Zeid of theHashemite House andPrincess Fahrelnissa Zeid (Fakhr un-nisa), a Turkish noblewoman. Upon the death of his father onOctober 18 ,1970 , he inherited the position as head of the Royal House ofIraq . Ra'ad has lived inLondon andParis .The Kingdom of Jordan has confirmed his style as "His Royal Highness" and Prince.Early life
Prince Raad is an agnatic grandson of the late king
Hussein of Hejaz , his father prince Zeid being king Hussein's youngest son. As such he is a first cousin of late kingsTalal of Jordan andGhazi of Iraq .Raad's paternal first cousin once removed was
Faisal II , the last king of Iraq, who was killed in a bloodycoup d'etat on14 July 1958 (Crown Prince Abd-al-Illah was also killed). Following the regicide, Prince Zeid, Raad's father, took the representation of Iraqi monarchy as the next heir, and was recognized as the Head of theRoyal House of Iraq by his remaining agnatic co-heirs of Jordan. They continued to live inLondon , where the family resided during the coup, as Zeid was theIraqi ambassador there.Raad himself succeeded his father as all such at the latter's death in 1970 in exile in
France .Education and career
He has been educated in
Alexandria ,Egypt , and inChrist's College, Cambridge . BA 1960, MA 1963.In 1960s, prince Raad worked as academic researcher in Britain. After receiving his highest academic degree, he took the position of Chamberlain to the Royal Court of Jordan, in Amman, and afterwards has acted in civil administration and charitable organizations there.
Raad worked as an aide and a close confidant of kings Hussein and
Abdullah II of Jordan .Marriage and children
Prince Raad married at
Södertälje ,Sweden ,June 30 ,1963 (civil), and at the Royal Palace,Amman , inAugust 5 , 1963, Swedish-bornMargaretha Inga Elisabeth Lind , henceforward known asMajda Raad , bornSeptember 5 ,1942 .They have five children:
*
Prince Zeid bin Ra'ad - bornJanuary 26 1964 , married to Sarah Butler.
*Prince Mired bin Ra'ad - bornJanuary 11 1965 , married to Dina Khalifeh.
*Prince Firas bin Ra'ad - bornOctober 12 1969 , married to Dana Toukan
*Prince Faisal bin Ra'ad - bornMarch 6 1975
*Princess Fakhrelnissa bint Ra'ad - bornJanuary 11 1981 Royal House of Iraq
Prince Raad's position as the head of the Royal House of Iraq is in contention with
Sharif Ali Bin al-Hussein (a descendant of Hussein of Hejaz's granddaughter, sister and male cousin, but not in male line from king Hussein) who is anotherpretender to the Iraqi throne and the leader of theIraqi Constitutional Monarchy .The Iraqi Constitution (as amended in November 1943) sets rules of succession that stipulate:
# succession to the Iraqi Throne is only for males of Iraqi nationality, and
# takes place according toprimogeniture , male dynasts lawfully begotten, from the family of KingFaisal I of Iraq by his Queen. Failing male heirs of King Faisal (which occurred in 1958 whenFaisal II died), succession is next to lawfully begotten descendants in male line of his brothers, the sons of KingHussein of Hejaz , according to primogeniture, provided they are also Iraqi nationals. That constitution provides no further: those who descend in male line from Hussein's ancestors, are not successors as to Iraq. Female descent is excluded from succession.Raad was born in 1936 as a subject of Iraqi monarchy and is regarded to fulfill the nationality requirement. Moreover, his father was at that time recognized as a Prince of Iraq, and was appointed Deputy Regent of Iraq, as well as acted occasionally as full regent during Faisal II's minority. He is a male-line descendant of
Hussein of Hejaz aforementioned. According to the provisions of cited constitution, Raad is eligible to succeed in Iraq. No other senior in primogeniture itself (meaning in practice the dynasts ofJordan , as all other lines have gone extinct), is asserting any claim to Iraq as obviously none of such are Iraqi nationals.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.