Talal of Jordan

Talal bin Abdullah (Arabic: طلال بن عبد الله Ṭalāl ibn `Abd Allāh‎) 26 February 1909 – 7 July 1972) was King of Jordan from 20 July 1951 until forced to abdicate in favour of his son Hussein due to health reasons (reported as schizophrenia) on 11 August 1952.

Talal's family claims a direct line of descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Life

Talal was born on 26 February 1909 at Mecca in the Hejaz, then part of the Ottoman Empire, to Abdullah and his first wife Musbah.

He was educated privately before attending the British Army's Royal Military College, Sandhurst, from which he graduated in 1929 when he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Cavalry Regiment of the Arab Legion. His regiment was attached to a British regiment in Jerusalem and also to the Royal Artillery in Baghdad.

Talal ascended the Jordanian throne after the assassination of his father, Abdullah I, in Jerusalem. His son, Hussein, who was accompanying his grandfather at Friday prayers was also a near victim. On 20 July 1951, Prince Hussein travelled to Jerusalem to perform Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque with his grandfather, King Abdullah I. An assassin fearing that the king might normalise relations with the State of Israel, killed Abdullah, but the 15-year-old Hussein survived.