Her Royal Highness Princess Sumaya

Her Royal Highness Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan, second daughter of Their Royal Highnesses Prince El Hassan bin Talal and Princess Sarvath El Hassan, was born in Amman on 14th May 1971. After completing her primary education in Jordan, Princess Sumaya attended Sherborne School for Girls in Dorset, England. She graduated from the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, specialising in Pre-Islamic sources of Islamic Art and Architecture, as well as 18th Century French Painting.

Princess Sumaya chairs the Board of the Princess Sumaya University for Technology and is actively involved in the affairs of the University. She is currently spearheading  efforts to restructure the University for it to become a cornerstone of Jordan’s continuing drive towards becoming an IT hub for the region. From this vantage point she is also involved in the general review of the educational process and human resource development in Jordan, and has attended “The Vision Forum for the Future of Education in Jordan” held in Amman in the summer of 2002 as well as the Economic Consultative Council Retreat (Aqaba One) held in October of 2002. Princess Sumaya works closely with the British Council on various projects and has helped sponsor and launch the "Everyman Millennium Book Project". Princess Sumaya is the honory Patron of the Jordan Computer Society.

Princess Sumaya is an avid archaeologist and follows, on behalf of her father HRH Prince El Hassan, and in her own right, the work of the British Institute at Amman for Art and Archaeology. She is Patron of the 'Wadi Faynan'  project, an archaeological excavation in southern Jordan. She has, at different times, worked  with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities on several projects relating to the conservation and development of archaeological sites Jordan. Most recently, under the direction of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, Princess Sumaya was invited to become Her Majesty’s as Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Jordan National Museum.

Princess Sumaya has attended several conferences in Jordan and abroad on subjects ranging from Islamic Heritage and Civilisation to Archaeology and Education. She is honorary patron of several charitable organizations and follows their work diligently. She also presides over the Jordan Handball Federation, and is the Patron of the Arab Women’s Handball Association.

Princess Sumaya is married to Mr. Nasser Judeh, Jordan’s former minister of Information.  In the first two years of their marriage they were posted in London as part of the Jordanian Diplomatic Mission. During her time in London, and at different periods, Princess Sumaya worked  in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and at Sotheby's, where  she helped mount an exhibition on Jordanian mosaics, and for which she supervised the publication 'Mosaics of Jordan'. Also whilst in London, Princess Sumaya undertook  numerous diplomatic duties and was a member of the Arab Women's Council. She is Vice President of the Anglo-Jordanian Society.  Her Royal Highness often gave lectures on Jordan and its antiquities to different bodies and organisations in the United Kingdom.

Princess Sumaya and Mr. Judeh have four children: twins, a boy, Tariq and a girl, Zein El Sharaf, born in 1994; a son, Ali, born in 1996; and a daughter, Sukayna, born in 1998. Princess Sumaya enjoys painting, drawing, skiing, riding, traveling and cooking. She is fluent in English and Arabic, is proficient in German, and has a good working knowledge of French.