Princess Ghida Talal

Happy Birthday to Princess Ghida Talal, who turns 60 today! The daughter of Hany Salam and Raja’a Arab, she was born in Beirut to a politically prominent family, going to school at the College Protestant Francais, followed by a joint bachelor’s and master’s degree and magna cum laude honours in international politics and economics from Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C. Afterwards, she worked as a researcher for ABC News in London, before becoming a correspondent for the Sunday Times in Argentina, then covering Lebanese politics for Reuters, before her final job with the Financial Times of London.

Following her marriage to Prince Talal Bin Muhammad of Jordan, a nephew of the late King Hussein, in 1991, she was asked by the King to establish the International Press Office of the Royal Hashemite Court and she became the King’s Press Secretary, while also directing research projects and producing many political and economic publications about Jordan. Prince Talal and Princess Ghida live in Jordan with their three children: Prince Hussein and twins Princess Raja’a and Prince Muhammad.

In 2001, King Abdullah II appointed Princess Ghida as full-time chairperson of the board of trustees of the King Hussein Cancer Foundation, one of the most prominent comprehensive cancer centers in the Middle East. Princess Ghida also played a vital role in the Iraq Scholar Rescue Project, for which she was awarded the IIE’s Humanitarian Award for International Cooperation in 2008. King Abdullah also appointed Princess Ghida to represent Jordan as his special envoy at the United Nations General Assembly’s High Level Meeting on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in 2011. We wish HRH a very Happy Birthday and Many Happy Returns!