European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 20, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse Wednesday september 20, 1978 the stars and stripes Page 19 modern living. 9if of ordains american Queen t by Ned Temko United press International he Pace is hectic. Language is a problem. The House or i mean Palace could be smaller. And life is Well but for Queen Noor Al Hussein the american who took everyone including her parents by sur prise in becoming the fourth wife of the King of Jordan there is something that makes it All More than Worth it. J his name is King Hussein. The Arab world s most do Pable Leader the 42-year-old Hussein also happens to be warm relaxed human and Noor adds humorous. Like any Fiance by the Way he was also shy about pop Ping the question j the pressure of the first two months of Royal life and the hectic moslem holy month of Ramadan in August Vith its Dawn to dusk fasting have made the tall trim Bride even thinner. She admits to feeling a Little exhausted. But the former Lisa Halaby who just turned 27, Isi slowly learning the life of Queen Noor Al Hussein j meaning the Light of Hussein in arabic. J there s an evolution going on in my understanding my feelings. The most important thing to me is this family this country she said in her first american4�ress interview. F the Arab world s first american first lady married into what by All accounts has always been a very relaxed Royal household. 1 the blonde soft spoken Queen seems to add her own touch of informality. \ she wears Blue jeans for afternoons at Home washes her own hair and grabs a Sandwich As often As a full Neal. She sometimes persuades her chauffeur to join the Ever present Security car behind her so she can take the wheel of her Green Mercedes. In other areas like Hemming dresses she sometimes ets help. You be got to have a Little More assistance imply because there s that much More expected of you Noor says. I amid the informality is a serious Streak. It s expressed with an articulate Ness Princeton University helped give her plus a sense of politics and distrust of the Media Learned from her father former . Federal aviation chief and former pan american airways chairman Najeeb Halaby. \ there s a pile of papers near my Side of the bed fro projects i m trying to work on plus of course my arabic lessons. Maybe i m More self conscious than others about still lacking fluency in the language but i feel i limits my accessibility to people. I want to show people As soon As possible that i can understand them and communicate with them which will probably even take them by Surprise Noor said in pair of informal conversations lasting some three hours. Eventually she plans to take on responsibilities in areas like environmental and Urban planning and Educa Tion. Now there Are just too Many detailed things almost More than i \ there is getting used to a new family including weight children from the King s earlier marriages. Prince Ali the youngest at 2vg and second in line to the throne Calls her Mommy. He s going through the difficult Tim of having to Cope with the idea of being told no some times Noor says with a proud is too the task of readying the Small tradition Al two Story Palace in Central Amman where the Royal couple will move in november. For the time being they Are at the sprawling modern Jha Shamiyeh Palace atop a Hill looking toward the City on one Side toward Jerusalem on the other. I it s stunningly Beautiful. But the other House iss smaller older More of a Home. Whenever i can i try 3 to get Over to take care of things there Are also official occasions for the Novice Monar sch to Cope with although most of them so far have been free of press and Public scrutiny. Being Queen in Short is a full time Job. I think it s Only through him Hussein that i feel ble most of the time to feel a functioning and fitting part of it. F if he weren t the Way he is if i did t love him there would be too much too much going on and too Little that makes me feel it s important enough Noor said in a Large Salon dotted with signed photographs Given to the King by president Carter French president Valery gis card d Estwing and other world leaders. It s been a discombobulated time a crowded chopped up time so far with very Little continuity an semblance of normality whatever that will be Noor said. Still i m getting used to things. It s a bit strange but one gets used to it. One gets used to the constant Secu Rity. To the fact that things can t be As capricious i guess As before and to the fact that people Are always around that there is no real privacy none she s also used to her new name. The King is too Al though at first he would still Call me Lisa from time to time. Now i feel it s a part of one thing she in t yet used to is the idea of Sud Denly being among the world s most famous women. I can t conceive of that she says. And do the Royal newlyweds Ever fight Well actually no. We tease each other. A lot. Whenever there s anything really anything i have question about or am confused or unsure about i try and i Don t always succeed obviously no one can always -1 try to approach it with a sense of he s very spontaneous and so am i and that helps. He s got a great sense of humor too which is part of his being just a very natural they also of course talk politics. His life is politics after All says Noor dressed in Blue jeans and a brightly coloured Blouse. But she is still leery of bringing her own views into Public saying it would be out of place to put my word sin a position where they could be used by critics or the Media in comparison with my husband in Amman add the Queen s relatively few Public appearances since the mid june wedding seem to indicate that in the beginning at least she will take a Low profile. She seems to be taking things very slowly and care fully said a Western embassy official. Noor says she is of course concerned for the King s safety he has weathered numerous assassination bids in his 26-year reign about her own. But not so much i guess i be become a Little fatalistic she All danger is something anyone May have to her friends and family weren t so relaxed. The engagement was kept mum until Only Days before the offi Cial announcement in late May. Halaby Noor says got his first inkling Only shortly beforehand in a Telephone conversation when i asked him whether he might be Able to break away for a few Days and come to Amman if asked the Halabis of syrian and lebanese ancestry had Long known the King and liked him and did t exactly try to talk me out of the marriage. In any Case they knew i d but Noor said they did poke and prod a bit. They were a Little taken by Surprise and concerned at then Lisa there were no second thoughts. For several months she had been talking wit the King almost every Day seeing him As a warm and close Friend while continuing work begun More than a year earlier in the design department of Jordan s National airline. She had planned to go on for a master s degree in architecture. I guess i surprised myself even to find that All my emotional and professional energies could be so wrapped up in a single person in making that person Happy Noor said. But i d always hoped and wanted my career and my personal life would be something United not disparate in a Low thoughtful voice she added there Are mate rial things around me now that some people struggle Al their lives for. But what s important to me and i Hope this will always be True is that we be Happy to Gether that we somehow Are Able to create something that will make other people around us happier. His people Are now my people " i be just been incredibly Lucky i guess. I m in a Posi Tion where i have the Opportunity the Chance to feel i can Hussein s Queen the former Princeton coed Lisa Halaby finds her new life hectic. A
