Princess Muna al-Hussein
Princess Muna al-Hussein (born Antoinette Avril Gardiner; 25 April 1941) is the mother of King Abdullah II of Jordan. Until their divorce on 21 December 1972, she was the second wife of Hussein, the late king of Jordan. She is English by birth but in keeping with Islamic culture, she was renamed Muna al-Hussein upon her marriage.
Early life
Toni Gardiner was born in Chelmondiston, East Suffolk, the daughter of Doris Elizabeth (Sutton) and Walter Percy Gardiner. She attended Bourne School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which was administered by the British Families Education Service for the children of British Service personnel stationed overseas. The school closed when British Forces withdrew from Malaya.
Gardiner's father was a high-ranking British Army Officer stationed at Long Marston in Warwickshire in the 1960s.
Marriage and children
Gardiner met the King of Jordan, Hussein, while working as a secretarial assistant on the film set of Lawrence of Arabia. The King had allowed his troops to work as extras on this film and would occasionally visit to monitor the production's progress. However, there is another report, stating that Gardiner and the King met when her father began to work as a Military Adviser in Jordan.