The Prince and Princess of Wales will be among the elite guests at Crown Prince Hussein and Rajwa Al Saif’s royal wedding which will take place at Zahran Palace on Thursday.
The country holds a special place in Princess Kate’s heart as her parents Michael and Carole Middleton moved there when the future royal was just two years old.
The Middletons worked for British Airways at the time – Michael was a manager and Carole a flight attendant. William opened up about his wife’s childhood in Jordan as Crown Prince Hussein hosted him during a tour of the Middle East in 2018.
Chatting to the chief executive of Save the Children, Rania Malki, William said: “She loved it here, she really did. She is very upset that I am coming here without her.”
The father-of-three also toured the Roman ruins at Jerash when he came across the same rock that Princess Kate played on when she lived in Jordan as a child.
The iconic spot was marked with a large picture of Kate with her dad Michael and sister Pippa – which was released by her family ahead of her marriage to William back in 2011. William climbed onto the rocks himself to be photographed in the same spot before joking: “Need to come back with the family for this shot.”
Chatting to the chief executive of Save the Children, Rania Malki, William was delighted to hear that her children’s pediatrician now lived in Kate’s childhood home, saying: “No way! She will be thrilled. She loved it here, she really did. She is very upset that I am coming here without her.”
In a speech during his trip, William later added: “My wife Catherine is very sorry she cannot be here with me so soon after the birth of our son Louis, but her family remembers very fondly the almost three years she spent here as a child when her father worked for British Airways in Amman.
“Catherine’s experience is not unique – the interchange between our two countries is real and deep: work, study, tourism and family links. Our historic ties and friendship are played out in the lives of thousands of people who consider both countries home.”
Hanna Hashweh, chief executive of the Hashweh Corporation travel agency in Amman, visited the Middleton home during their years there, telling MailOnline that the family “lived in a two-storey rented villa, close to a park and the nursery where Kate went. I remember she was a very beautiful little girl.”
Kate’s nursery was the now-closed Assahera nursery, “one of the most expensive in the area”, said Hanna. The school hours ran from 8am to 12.30pm Monday to Thursday.
She added: “Kate’s father used to pick her up sometimes in his work uniform and the kids used to get very excited and run to see him. But most of the time the mother picked her up. She was always on time.”
Kate was in a class of 12Â with children aged three to five from countries such as Britain, Jordan, Japan, India and America. They learned in both English and Arabic and would read a verse of the Quran following their morning singing session. Both Christmas and Ramadan were celebrated.Â
The Middletons returned to England in September 1986 when dad Michael’s work posting ended, where Kate was enrolled at St Andrew’s School, a private school in Berkshire.
Elsewhere, in 2021, Kensington Palace revealed that William and Kate had taken George, Charlotte and Louis on holiday to Jordan when they released their Christmas card. The under-the-radar trip took place earlier that year when the family of five visited the ancient city of Petra.
