Zaid bin Hussein
Head of the royal houses of Iraq and Syria
Tenure	14 July 1958 – 18 October 1970
Predecessor	Faisal II
Successor	Ra'ad bin Zeid
Born	28 February 1898 Ottoman Empire
Died	18 October 1970(1970-10-18) (aged 72) Paris, France
Spouse	Fahrelnissa Zeid
Issue	Prince Ra'ad bin Zeid
House	Hashemite
Father	Hussein bin Ali
Mother	Adila Khanum

Zaid bin Hussein, GCVO, GBE (Arabic: زيد بن الحسين; (28 February 1898 – 18 October 1970) was an Iraqi prince who was a member of the Hashemite dynasty and the head of the Royal House of Iraq from 1958 until his death, after the royal line founded by his brother Faisal I of Iraq died out.

Biography

Prince Zaid was the fourth son of Hussein bin Ali, who was the Sharif and Emir of Mecca, and only son of Hussein and his Ottoman-Turkish third wife, Adila Khanum. He was educated at Galatasaray High School in Stamboul (Istanbul), Constantinople College and Balliol College, Oxford.

From 1916 to 1919, Prince Zeid was the Commander of the Arab Northern Army. In 1918, T. E. Lawrence suggested that he be made king of a truncated north-western Syria.^[1] The advent of French rule resulted in his assignment in 1923 to the Iraqi Cavalry and he was promoted to Colonel.

Zeid was also Iraqi ambassador in Berlin and in Ankara in the 1930s and in London in the 1950s.

On 14 July 1958 Prince Zeid became Head of the Royal House of Iraq, following the assassination of his grand-nephew King Faisal II by General Muhammad Najib ar-Ruba'i, who proclaimed Iraq to be a republic. Zeid and his family continued to live in London, where the family resided during the coup, as Zeid was the Iraqi ambassador there.

Prince Zeid died in Paris on 18 October 1970, and was buried in the Royal Mausoleum at Raghdan Palace, Amman, Jordan.^{[citation needed]} His son prince Ra'ad bin Zeid succeeded him as head of the Royal House of Iraq.

Marriage and children

In November 1933, Zeid married Princess Fahrelnissa Zeid in Athens, Greece. Together they had one son:

• Prince Ra'ad bin Zeid - born 18 February 1936, married to Margaretha Inga Elisabeth Lind.

Ancestry

v t e Hashemites[2][3]
Hashim (eponymous ancestor) Abd al-Muttalib Abu Talib Abdallah Muhammad (Islamic prophet) Ali (fourth caliph) Fatimah Hasan (fifth caliph) Hasan Al-Mu'thanna Abdullah Musa Al-Djawn Abdullah Musa Muhammad Abdullah Ali Suleiman Hussein Issa Abd Al-Karim Muta'in Idris Qatada (Sharif of Mecca) Ali Hassan (Sharif of Mecca) Abu Numayy I (Sharif of Mecca) Rumaythah (Sharif of Mecca) 'Ajlan (Sharif of Mecca) Hassan (Sharif of Mecca) Barakat I (Sharif of Mecca) Muhammad (Sharif of Mecca) Barakat II (Sharif of Mecca) Abu Numayy II (Sharif of Mecca) Hassan (Sharif of Mecca) Abdullah (Sharif of Mecca) Hussein Abdullah Muhsin Auon, Ra'i Al-Hadala Abdul Mu'een Muhammad (Sharif of Mecca) Ali Hussein (Sharif of Mecca King of Hejaz) Ali (King of Hejaz) Abdullah I (King of Jordan) Faisal I (King of Syria King of Iraq) Zeid (pretender to Iraq) 'Abd Al-Ilah (Regent of Iraq) Talal (King of Jordan) Ghazi (King of Iraq) Ra'ad (pretender to Iraq) Hussein (King of Jordan) Faisal II (King of Iraq) Zeid Abdullah II (King of Jordan) Hussein (Crown Prince of Jordan)