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Jordan

Prince Hamzah renounces title a year after being put under house arrest

Prince Hamzah of Jordan has renounced his royal title a year after he was placed on house arrest after an alleged attempted coup to overthrow his half-brother, King Abdullah II. 

In a letter published on his Twitter account, Hamzah declared his intentions of renouncing his title of Prince, stating that he would continue to serve the country “in his private life,” according to a translation of the letter, but without mentioning the King or any potential future roles for himself. 

In the letter, Hamzah states that his decision stems from the impossibility to support current Jordanian policies because of what he witnessed in recent years. 

“I have come to a conclusion that my personal conviction and principles my father instilled in me are not in line with the path, directives and modern methods of our institutions,” the letter read in part. 

Filled with terms that echo conservative sentiments, the statement is believed to have a target audience of all the more conservative elements of the Jordanian society, that were rumoured to be behind the forces that led to last year’s attempted coup. 

The choice of the date for publication is not casual either, with the tweet coming out on the first day of Ramadan, Islam’s sacred fasting month. 

The Royal Hashemite Court has not made any comment.

Hamzah is the son of the late King Hussein and his fourth wife, Queen Noor, who, following last year’s event, has taken a public stance for peace and justice. 

Upon King Hussein’s death, he was named Crown Prince by the new King Abdullah, but lost that title in 2004, and saw his half-nephew, Hussein, take the title in 2009 following a decree from the King. 

Since then, Prince Hamzah virtually disappeared from the Jordanian royal life, instead being very active in condemning corruption in the Jordanian institutions. In April of 2021, it was announced that several people had been arrested in connection with a plot to depose King Abdullah and destabilise the country. 

Hamzah was placed on house arrest after he accused the leaders of Jordan of being corrupt and incompetent. Specifics about the alleged coup have not been disclosed by Jordan.

Just last month, Hamzah had published a letter of apology addressed to King Abdullah, regretting his actions and the destabilising effect it had on the country.