Amman, Jordan: The hashtag “Prince Hamzah”, the half-brother of the King of Jordan, topped the list of the most circulated on “Twitter” in the kingdom, on Sunday, hours after he gave up his title (Prince).
In a message via his Twitter account, “Prince” Hamza bin Al Hussein, 42, announced his abandonment of the title of prince, considering that his convictions are not in line with “modern approaches, trends and methods” in the Kingdom’s institutions.
— Hamzah bin AlHussein (@HamzahHKJ) April 3, 2022
This is his first message on Twitter since October 2020, and it sparked widespread controversy on social media, according to The Eastern Herald correspondent.
The letter came less than a month after a letter of apology addressed to his brother, King Abdullah II, and came about a year after the crisis of the “sedition” issue.
Under the hashtag “Prince Hamzah”, an account in the name of “Islam” wrote: “To rise above a life of glamor and unaccountability can only come from a person of principle.”
He continued: “If most of us had a quarter of what Prince Hamzah had, he would have forced us and we would do what we liked, and no one would ask us.”
And he added: “Regardless of any position and motive, arrogance and abandonment can only come from a man, and only a man can appreciate it.”
And another account in the name of “Noor” wrote: “It is not titles that honor men, but men who honor titles. Hamza was, is and will always be our prince and our hope.”
While Abboud Fares said: “You are with every heart a free and honorable Jordanian, you are our Emir, you are the eye and the head, may God protect you and God suffices and is the best agent for everyone who tried to distort your affiliation with the Jordanian people.”
Referring to his conversion to a citizen after giving up the title of prince, an account called “Kanaani” used the word “our brother”, saying: “The people love you, our brother, Prince Hamzah bin Al Hussein.”
Hamza said in his message: “After what I have touched and witnessed in recent years, I have come to the conclusion that my personal convictions and the constants that my father instilled in me, and which I tried hard in my life to adhere to, are not in line with the approaches, trends and modern methods of our institutions.”
And he continued, “It is out of honesty to God and conscience, I see nothing but loathing and abandoning the title of prince, and I had the great honor to serve my beloved country and my dear people in this capacity over the years of my life.”
And he added, “I will remain as I have always been and as long as I live, loyal to our beloved Jordan, and according to my ability in my private life to serve my country and my people and the message of my fathers and grandfathers from the family of Muhammad, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, and the nation and its soldiers, service and daughters, sincerity from me to the requirements of the heart and conscience, and loyalty to a heavy oath that I swore to my father.” May God have mercy on him”.
Hamzah concluded his message: “I commission my affairs to God, and Him I have relied upon, and my success is only in God.”
As of 20:30 GMT, there was no comment from the Royal Court regarding this message.
On March 8, the Royal Court announced that King Abdullah had received a letter of apology from his brother, Prince Hamzah, in which he “admits his mistake”, nearly a year after the “sedition” case.
In July 2021, a Jordanian court sentenced former royal court chief Bassem Awadallah and Sharif Abdel Rahman Hassan bin Zaid to 15 years in prison.
The court convicted Awadallah and Bin Zayed of “inciting opposition to the existing political regime in the kingdom” and “performing acts that endanger the safety and security of society and cause sedition.”
On April 4, 2021, Oman announced that “preliminary investigations” showed Prince Hamzah’s involvement with “foreign parties” in “attempts to destabilize the country’s security” and “mobilize citizens against the state.” Which the Prince denied his health.
In 2004, King Abdullah relieved his brother Hamza of the covenant mandate, and said at the time that he wanted to give him more “freedom of movement to carry out official tasks inconsistent with his symbolic position.”
Five years later, the king appointed his eldest son, Prince Hussein, as crown prince, at the age of fifteen.
