Royal Profile: Prince Zeid bin Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein

Prince Zeid bin Ra'ad al-Hussien was born 26 January 1978 as the son of Prince Ra'ad bin Zeid and Majda Lind {Source}. He has two older brothersand a younger sister:

1. Prince Mired bin Ra'ad(1965
1. Ptincess  Dina Khalifeh (1965, m. 1992)
1. Princess Shirin bint Mir'ed (993),
2. Prince Rakan bin Mir'ed (1995
3. Prince Jafar bin Mir'ed (2002)
2. Prince Firas bin Ra'ad (196
1. Princess Dana Firas (1970, m. 1999)
1. Princess Safa, ( 2001)
2. Princess Haya (2003)
3. Prince Hashem (2010) 
3. Prince Faisal bin Ra'ad (1975)
1. Princess Lara Faisal (1976?, m. 2005?) 
1. Princess Hanan bint Faisal ( 2006)
2. Princess Mariam bint Faisal (2008)
3. Prince bin Faisal ( 2013)
4. Princess Fakhrelnissa bint Ra'ad  (1981)
1. Sharif Hajjar
2. Prince Radwan Hajjar (2006)
3. Faisal Hajjar ( 2007)
4.  Lana Hajjar 2012)

Prince Zeid was educated in England and the United States. For his primary schooling, he attened Reed's School in England. For his university years, he headed to the United States to study at Johns Hopkins University, earning a degree in 1987. By the early 1990s, he was back in England, this time working on his PhD at Christ's College, University of Cambridge, earning it in 1993 {Source}. In 2016, he became an honorary fellow of his PhD Alma mater {Source}.

He was commissioned as an officer in the Jordanian desert Police in the late 1980s, serving until 1994. He became a political officer for the United Nations Protection Force in Yugoslavia (now known as Serbia) {Source}. 

After serving his police force service, he opted to represent Jordan as Jordan's  Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1996 to 2000. In August 2000 he was appointed Permanent Representative at the United Nations, serving until 2007 {Source}. In 2006, he was nominated by Jordan as a candidate for selection as the next United Nations Secretary-General, but lost his bid to Ban Ki-moon, and became Jordan's Ambassador to the United States for three years. In 2010, he returned to Jordan, and the UN, where he acts as Jordan's  Jordan's Permanent Representative {Source}.

On 5 July 2000, he married  American-born Sara Butler{Source}. Together, they have three children:

• Prince Ra'ad bin Zeid (2001)
• Princess Hala bint Zeid (2003)
• Princess Azizah

While he is not in succession for the Jordanian throne, he is in succession for the defunct Iraqi throne. He is currently The Perry World House Professor of the Practice of Law and Human Rights at the University of Pennsylvania {Source}{Source}. In 2019, Zeid was invited to join the Elders, an independent group of global leaders working for peace,justice and human rights founded by Nelson Mandela {Source}, His first cousin in King Abdullah II of Jordan.