Princess Basma bint Talal

Her mother was Queen Zein (1916–1994).

After her father's abdication, her older brother Hussein (1935–1999) ascended the throne, and her mother was queen regent until Hussein came of age in 1953.

Basma was educated at Ahliyyah School for Girls in Amman, then in England at Benenden School (where she was a friend of Princess Anne) and University of Oxford, where she read Modern Languages.

Princess Basma bint Talal (born 11 May 1951) is the only daughter of King Talal and Queen Zein of Jordan, sister of Hussein of Jordan and paternal aunt to the current king, King Abdullah II.

Basma's father became King of Jordan two months after she was born as a result of the assassination of her grandfather King Abdullah I in Jerusalem.

King Talal was forced to abdicate as King for health reasons in 1952, when Basma was one year old.

Basma first married Colonel Timoor Daghistani in Amman on 2 April 1970.

They had two children: Farah Daghistani and Ghazi Daghistani.

In the late 1970s they were divorced.

Since the late 1970s, Basma has worked to promote human development, gender equity and children's charities.

Through forums that include the United Nations she contributes to the global debates on health, education, population and the environment.

He lived on until 1972.

Basma went on to marry Walid al-Kurdi in Amman on 14 April 1980, and they also had two children: Saad al-Kurdi and Zein Al-Sharaf al-Kurdi.

In 2001, she was awarded a DPhil degree by Oxford University for a thesis entitled Contextualising development in Jordan: the arena of donors, state and NGOs.