Prince Zeid bin Hussein

Prince Zeid bin Hussein
Pretender
Born	28 February 1898 Ottoman Empire
Died	18 October 1970 (aged 72) Paris, France
Title(s)	Prince of Iraq
Throne(s) claimed	Iraq
Pretend from	14 July 1958
Monarchy abolished	1958
Last monarch	Faisal II
Connection with	Great Uncle
Royal House	Hashemite
Father	Hussein bin Ali
Mother	Adila Khanum
Spouse	Fahrelnissa Zeid
Children	Prince Ra'ad bin Zeid
Successor	Prince Ra'ad bin Zeid

Map presented by TE Lawrence to the Eastern Committee of the War Cabinet in November 1918

Prince Zeid bin Hussein, GCVO, GBE (Arabic: الأمير زيد بن الحسين‎‎; February 28, 1898 – October 18, 1970) was an Iraqi prince who was a member of the Hashemite dynasty and the head of the Royal House of Iraq from 1958 until his death.

Biography

Prince Zeid was the only son of Hussein bin Ali, who was the Sharif and Emir of Mecca, and his third wife Adila Khanum. He was educated at Galatasaray High School in Stamboul (Istanbul), Constantinople College and Balliol College, Oxford.

From 1916 to 1919, Prince Zeid was the Commander of the Arab Northern Army. In 1918, T. E. Lawrence suggested that he be made king of a truncated north-western Syria.^[1] The advent of French rule resulted in his assignment in 1923 to the Iraqi Cavalry and he was promoted to Colonel.

Zeid was also Iraqi ambassador in Berlin and in Ankara in the 1930s and in London in the 1950s.

On July 14, 1958, Prince Zeid was appointed Head of the Royal House of Iraq, following the assassination of his great-nephew king Faisal II by General Muhammad Najib ar-Ruba'i, who proclaimed Iraq to be a republic. Zeid and his family continued to live in London, where the family resided during the coup, as Zeid was the Iraqi ambassador there.

Prince Zeid died in Paris on October 18, 1970, and was buried in the Royal Mausoleum at Raghdan Palace, Amman, Jordan. His son prince Ra'ad bin Zeid succeeded him as head of the Royal House of Iraq.

Marriage and children

In November 1933, Zeid married Princess Fahrelnissa Zeid in Athens, Greece. Together they had one son:

• HRH Prince Ra'ad bin Zeid - born February 18, 1936, married to Margaretha Inga Elisabeth Lind, now Majda Ra'ad.

References

1. Lawrence's Mid-East map, as displayed at Imperial War Museum, London