Dining with Royalty

December 13, 2016

A few weeks ago, the eight Georgetown students studying abroad in Jordan—Abby Reinhold, Callie Andress, Caroline Sanford, Chris Oswald, Emily Belson, Sonali Dhawan, Laila Brothers, and I—were fortunate enough to be invited to the home of Prince Talal and Princess Ghida of Jordan for dinner. Prince Talal bin Muhammad is the cousin of the current king of Jordan, King Abdullah II. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to eat a meal with royalty came about because both the prince and princess also attended the School of Foreign Service (SFS) at Georgetown. Princess Ghida reached out to Dean Hellman of the SFS and got in contact with us. They were excited to meet fellow Hoyas studying in Jordan, and we were in shock that we would be invited into the home of such high profile and wonderful people.


Two cars were sent to pick us up on a chilly Wednesday evening. The dinner began on a surreal note as we sped to their home in the royal compound of Amman. Once at their house, a man wearing jeans and a polo, who introduced himself simply as “Talal,” greeted us. As I shook his hand, it dawned on me that I was introducing myself to a member of the royal Hashemite family. The princess was equally as charming and led us into the beautifully decorated living room. We soon met their three children, Hussein, Rajaa, and Muhammad, who, according to their parents, are all aspiring Hoyas as well.

Next came dinner, and our conversation quickly shifted from news of Georgetown to a more recent topic: the U.S. elections. Our dinner happened to have been scheduled the day after (or the day of, depending on the time zone) of Donald Trump’s shocking election win. While I had spent most of my day in disbelief, going through the motions of my classes, as I tried to process the reality of Donald Trump becoming our next president, the talk of the elections at dinner took on a more hopeful tone. I had only spoken of the elections with fellow American study abroad students so far, so it was interesting to hear the views of foreigners, especially ones of such prominence. Both Prince Talal and Princess Ghida were quick to mention to us that this change was nothing permanent. They still expressed hope for America during and beyond the next four years. That comment made me realize that I should remain confident of my country as well.

After a delicious dinner of falafel, hummus, ravioli, lentils, salad, grilled steak, and peppers, and a large cake and apple crumble for dessert, we headed to Prince Talal’s study. He pointed out a few of his favorite items: first, an ornately painted family tree that extended all the way back to the Prophet Muhammad, and second, his two Georgetown degrees, proudly displayed on his wall. Prince Talal also showed us his collection of 13,000 books, all meticulously cataloged using the Dewey Decimal System. He told us how much he loved to read—between 40 to 100 books per year in fact—and that he is always looking to expand his library. He joked with us that we were welcome to borrow a book if we wanted, provided that we leave a member of our party behind in exchange. I honestly wouldn’t have minded staying there. However, it was soon time to leave, and after thanking our gracious hosts, we got back into our cars and headed home.

The whole experience felt surreal. As we drove away from the royal compound, I was still trying to wrap my head around what had just happened. While that morning had started with some terrible and shocking news, the day ended in a much different kind of astonishment, one that I will remember quite well beyond whatever the next four years may bring.
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