When the Jordanian royal family gathered on April 11 to celebrate 100 years since the kingdom’s foundation, it was a picture of dynastic unity. Alongside King Abdullah was his half-brother, the former crown prince Hamzah bin al-Hussein, who had only days ago been placed under house arrest, following what was reported in the world’s press as a “coup attempt“. The king gave interviews assuring the outside world that all was well and that the former heir to the Jordanian throne had offered him his loyalty. In no other area of the world do royal families dominate politics as much as […]