The Literary Prince and Real-Life Princess: The Wedding of Princess Raiyah to Ned Donovan

posted on: Jul 30, 2020

Queen Noor, Princess Raiyah and Ned Donovan

By: Holly Johnson/Arab America Contributing Writer                  In an event eerily reminiscent of pre-pandemic times, a blushing bride marched down the aisle towards her prince earlier this month, aglow in the warmth of a summer afternoon in the United Kingdom. One might easily mistake this scene for any ordinary wedding, however, for this modern couple, it included a touch of real-life royalty.

Princess Raiyah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, married longtime love Ned Donovan, in an intimate, socially-distanced wedding on July 8, 2020. The youngest daughter of Queen Noor and the late King Hussein of Jordan, Princess Raiyah is the half-sister of the reigning king, Abdullah II of Jordan.

Ned Donovan, On assignment in India                                                  Groom, Ned Donovan, is no stranger to celebrity either, as the grandson of famed British children’s author Roald Dahl (James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and American actress Patricia Neal (Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Day the Earth Stood Still). A British journalist in his own right, Donovan announced his engagement to Princess Raiyah on October 26, 2019, with the full blessing of The Royal Hashemite Court.

“While it was originally planned for April in Jordan, the pandemic derailed those plans and it was safer for my husband’s family to hold it in the UK,” Princess Raiyah tweeted on July 9th, alongside an image of the wedding party enjoying the couple’s socially-distanced big day.

Socially-distant Affair                                                                                    Gliding down a gardenia-lined stone courtyard, the stunning bride donned a long-sleeved gown featuring elegant lace detailing. While the bride’s dress was subtly exquisite, it was the presence of the jeweled headpiece, fashioned from a brooch belonging to her mother, that gifted the ensemble its aristocratic air.

While royal, Princess Raiyah has pursued aspirations which have led to extensive international travel and academic pursuits. A student of Atlantic College in Wales, Princess Raiyah received her undergraduate degree in Japanese from the University of Edinburgh, later pursuing a postgraduate degree from Columbia University.

Currently, Princess Raiyah is pursuing a Ph.D. in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Los Angeles, while her new groom works as a freelance correspondent for the Daily Mail and The Times. Along with his journalistic efforts, Donovan maintains the @UK_Laws Twitter account, monitoring new government legislation in the UK.

Interestingly, Princess Raiyah’s academic pursuits are not her only ties to the United States. Her mother, Queen Noor, was born Lisa Halaby in Washington D.C. in 1951, however, became Queen Noor in 1978 following her marriage to King Hussein.

Wedding of Queen Noor to King Hussein, 1978                                            A second-generation Lebanese-American, Queen Noor’s father was a United States government official, serving as an aide to the United States Secretary of Defense in the Truman administration, before being appointed head of the Federal Aviation Administration by the president, John F. Kennedy, exposing young Lisa to international relations.

Attending prestigious schools in New York City and Massachusetts, Lisa graduated from Princeton University in 1974, before moving to Australia for a burgeoning architectural firm with a strong interest in the Middle East. Tiring of life in the land down under, Lisa eventually accepted a directorship with Alia Airlines in Jordan, leading to her connection with King Hussein. Grieving the loss of his wife, Alia Al-Hussein, Lisa’s friendship with the king provided him comfort and companionship, culminating in marriage on June 15, 1978, at the Zahran Palace in Amman.

In an interview with People Magazine in 1980, Queen Noor professed her thoughts on life in Jordan, exclaiming, “I never felt American when I married,” “America was a place where I grew up, studied and developed a foundation for living. It’s not that I’m rejecting America, but I’ve always felt at home in Jordan. I felt from the start I belonged here. This is my country. Nobody calls me ‘Lisa’ anymore, I think of myself as ‘Noor’.”

 

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Sources

https://people.com/royals/princess-raiyah-of-jordan-marries-british-journalist-ned-donovan-in-england/

https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/directory/queen-noor-of-jordan/