King Charles Makes Princess Raiyah a Dame

Jordan's Princess Raiyah has been made a dame by King Charles in the Order of St. John. The new appointments were announced today in The London Gazette.

The Order of St. John, established in 1888 by Queen Victoria, is short for the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. The Order of St. John is "a working order of charitably minded men and women whose philanthropy is expressed principally through its two foundations, the St. John Eye Hospital in Jerusalem and St. John Ambulance."

Princess Riayah was recognized for her work with the St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital Group. Both her parents were in the Order of St. John; her mom, Queen Noor, was made a Dame Grand Cross in 1989, and her late father, King Hussein, was a Knight Grand Cross. Both were granted their honors by Queen Elizabeth.

Princess Riayah, a half-sister to King Abdullah II, recently attended the royal wedding of Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa with her husband in Amman, Jordan. In January, she was pictured at the funeral of former king Constantine II of Greece in Athens, alongside Queen Noor.

Princess Riayah was last in the news in July 2020, when she married Ned Donovan, the grandson of Roald Dahl, in an intimate, socially distanced wedding. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Japanese Literary and Cultural Studies at UCLA; according to the Terasaki Center for Japanese studies at UCLA, Princess Riayah's "research focuses upon the connection between the warrior as a symbolic figure and the construction of national identity."

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