Jordan's Queen Noor Perseveres
As her husband's coffin was carried away, Jordan's Queen Noor stood in the doorway, her head covered with a scarf of white, which is the color of mourning in her adopted county.
Her official role kept her in the shadow at King Hussein's funeral, reports CBS News Correspondent Richard Roth.
On Saturday, outside the hospital where her husband lay dying, she moved with grace in a gesture of thanks to the thousands keeping vigil. But now, as a widow with no duties of state, it will be up to Queen Noor to adapt to a new role.
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American Lisa Halaby was 26 when she became King Hussein's fourth wife, a PrincetoUniversity architecture graduate married in June 1978 after a six-week courtship and conversion to the Islamic faith. She took the name Noor al Hussein, which means "Light of Hussein."
The couple had four children. She became stepmother to eight more. And she once said that she and the king tried "to do everything to create a strongly centered and nurturing and secure family life for them."
She became a companion with confidence over 20 years, adding a touch of glamour to the king's reign as an international head of state.
Her work at home presented a different challenge. In a society that often saw her as an outsider, she never achieved the fame or popular affection won by Princess Grace or Princess Diana. But she has said that she never sought it. Her role as queen was in her husband's shadow.
Now, at 47, she becomes Queen Mother, responsible for guiding her oldest son, Hamzeh. As crown prince, the 18-year-old is next in line for Jordan's throne.