The Jordanian Royal Family has paid a sweet tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth during a wedding ceremony held in Amman.
Jordan's Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, 28, and Saudi national Rajwa Alseif, 29, got married at the Zahran Palace in the country's capital today.
They tied the knot surrounded by family and friends, as well as world leaders including US First Lady Jill Biden.
Prince William and his wife Catherine were among the guests at the ceremony, during which the newlyweds travelled in a motorcade in a 1984 Range Rover from the wedding ceremony at Zahran Palace to Al Husseiniya Palace for the reception.
The vehicle was specially customised for the visit of Queen Elizabeth to Jordan by British automotive coachbuilding company Wood & Pickett.
Crowds gathered in Amman and all around Jordan to watch the royal wedding of the year being live-streamed on huge screens.
Many attendees were seen waving flags and wearing white-and-red checkered scarves worn by the country's ruling family, the Hashemites.
Jordan declared Thursday a public holiday to allow crowds to witness the historic event.
"This is a really important day for my country, and those who are not Jordanian wouldn't understand," said Najwa Issamad, a 40-year-old nurse watching her teenage sons dance rowdily to pop wedding music blaring from their phones downtown.
"It's a time for all Jordanians to stop whatever we’re doing and say, let's celebrate, let's rejoice."
King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan proudly watched as their son was wed during an Islamic marriage ceremony known as a "katb ktab" held in a gazebo in the garden of the Zahran Palace and conducted by the Royal Hashemite Court Imam Dr Ahmed Al Khalaileh.
Jordan's ruling monarch and his wife greeted the guests when they arrived and warmly shook hands and kissed the prince and princess, with William nodding his head as a mark of respect when he met the king and Kate curtseying.
A few minutes later Beatrice arrived with her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and among others who attended were King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, Rwanda's President Paul Kagame and US First Lady Jill Biden.
Kate wore a blush-pink high-neck gown by Elie Saab, the Lebanese designer chosen by the bride for her traditional white wedding gown, which had a long train.
After the royal nuptials, several women performed Zaghrata - ululation - a joyous sound commonly used to express happiness at Jordanian and Arab celebrations, and the newly-weds greeted their guests.
The prince and princess have ties with Jordan, with Kate's family living in Amman for a few years in the mid-1980s when she was a young girl and the couple enjoyed a 2021 holiday in the Middle East country with their children.
Queen Rania is a member of the Earthshot Prize Council, the judging panel for William's environmental prize which this year will be staged in Singapore.
William visited Jordan in 2018 and was joined on a number of official visits by Crown Prince Hussein, and when the two men met after the ceremony they hugged.
The event was screened live online and the prince was seen chatting to the bride and pointing to the very long train of her white wedding dress.
William and Kate's trip to Jordan was not announced in advance and their arrival was only confirmed by Jordanian state media a few hours before the start of the wedding ceremony.
The wedding comes after a difficult period for Jordan's monarchy, including a public rift between the king and his half-brother, with some commentators interpreting the national celebrations as a way of shoring up public support at a time of persistent economic difficulties.
