Royal Profile: Princess Sarah Zeid of Jordan

Princess Sarah Zeid of Jordan was born on 1 August 1972 as Sarah Antonia Butler to Dr. Godfrey Phillip Butler and Jean Hamilton Butler {Source}.

She was educated in England and the United States. She attended Hurtword House School in England. Upon recieving her A-Levels, she studied international relations at the University of St. Thomas in the United States. She also earned a master's degree in developmental studies from University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies {Source}

Upon graduation, she began working as an advocate for global health, focusing primarally on maternal and newborn health {Source}. Some of her advocacy work has led her to postions with the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations and working as the Desk Officer for Iraq in the Office Emergency Programmes at UNICEF {Source}. She has also been a contributor for Peace TV {Source}. She serves as a member of the Every Newborn Action Plan and partners with PATH committee. Princess Sarah founded and acts as co-chair of Every Woman, Every Child EveryWhere {Source}.

She is a patron for the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood and an advisory board member for the Women's Rights Division at Human Rights Watch {Source}. She is a board member of the Women's Refugee Commission and a member of the UNHCR Advisory Group on Gender, Forced Displacement and Protection {Source}.

In October 2016 Princess Sarah visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial as a Goodwill ambassador of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to honor the victims of the 1994 Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi {Source}. 

She has deliviered several keynote speeches over the years. n September 2017 Princess Sarah was the keynote speaker at an event hosted by the Human Rights Council in Geneva focusing on the provision of sexual reproductive health services in conflict and post-conflict situations. She spoke of her role as the lead for the humanitarian work-stream of the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health and how to empower women and children {Source}. In November 2017 she delivered the keynote at Nutrition: Cornerstone of Gender Equality, a conference in Ottawa, Canada on nutrition's role in achieving gender equality. In her keynote speech she acknowledged how the implementation of the Feminist International Assistance Policy has contributed to Canada's position on the national stage regarding women's and girl's rights. During her Canadian visit she also attended a parliamentary gathering hosted by Pam Damoff, organized with Results Canada and Nutrition International {Source}.

In 2018 Princess Sarah became a program ambassador for Women Deliver, a global advocacy group {Source}. In June 2018, Princess Sarah conducted a three-day visit to Burundi where she met with the First Lady of Burundi, top government officials, and partners with the World Food Programme {Source}. 

She married U.N. Commissioner on Human Rights Prince Zeid bin Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein on 5 July 2000 {Source}. Together, they have three children:

1. Prince Ra'ad bin Zeid (2001)
2. Princess Hala bint Zeid (2003)
3. Princess Azziza bint al-Zeid (2010)

Her husband is a distant relation of King Abduallh II and a pretender for the Iraqi throne.