She’s a royal, a keen humanitarian, a passionate advocate for a child’s right to education – and she’s also a devoted mother of four. HM Queen Rania Al-Abdullah wears many hats in her daily life, and appears to juggle them all with ease. However, Her Majesty, who welcomed her eldest child Crown Prince Hussein 24 years ago, has spoken many a time about balancing her position and her home life, offering up plenty of inspiration and wisdom for those in a similar position. Here, we’ve rounded up some of Queen Rania’s most insightful musings on raising her family…
On instilling a work ethic in her children
“When my son [Crown Prince Hussein] asks for something, he doesn’t automatically get it. He has to work for it and he may not get it at all,” Queen Rania said in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2006.“He has to tidy his room and he has to get good grades and he has to demonstrate that he’s behaving well and he’s earned it.”
On being royal
“At the end of the day, I think of myself as a mother, as a wife, and you know you have the concerns that you have for your children, and you worry about whether they’re doing well in school,” HM said on The View in 2010. “I mean from the outside looking in, people are very mesmerized by the whole Queen thing, but for me it’s just everyday life.”
On being a working mother
“I encourage women to balance both a home life and a career,” Queen Rania told Conde Nast Traveler in 2008. “As someone who juggles those tricky balls, I can tell you it isn’t easy, but it is possible and it is very rewarding.”
On being a new mother
“You would think that I would be more confident and unperturbed by the whole thing by the fourth time around, but I’m not. In fact, in many ways it feels like he is my first baby and I still find myself nervous and fumbling at times,” Her Majesty told Hello! in 2005, shortly after the birth of Prince Hashem. “I’m certainly no less tired than I was with my other children. And the disarray and disruption to daily life that a newborn inevitably brings still requires a lot of organization.”
On raising Prince Hussein to become King
“The most important thing is to instill him with the right values,” HM told Winfrey. “I just feel that values are the shield that you carry with you throughout life and it protects you from whatever life throws at you.”
On pressure that new mothers face
“Thankfully, experience has taught me to be kinder to myself. I see a lot of young women these days trying to lose all the weight, resume work and get back to ‘normal’ life soon after their baby is born and I always think, ‘What’s the rush?'” Queen Rania added to Hello! “Everything will happen in due course. Setting high expectations can result in the burden of unwarranted stress and missing out on the little joys that come with a baby.”
On her position
“I’d rather be dealt with as a person than a persona,” HM told CBC in 2010. “With my children, I’m just Mom. At the end of the day, the position is just a position, a title is just a title, and those things come and go. It’s really your essence and your values that are important.”
On the importance of making time
“I try to be hands on. Bedtime is a sacred time for me with my children and I always try to be there to tuck them in,” the royal added to Hello! “I cherish the sanctity of our family, so balancing my work with my own children’s needs is a constant challenge and, with our new baby, that challenge has become even greater.”
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