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| Sheikha Al Jalila and Sheikh Mo at yesterday's inauguration of the Al Jalila Foundation |
Oops! What has he done or said now!
That seems to be the exasperated expression on the face of
Sheikha Al Jalila as she lovingly takes a wide-eyed gaze at her father, Sheikh
Mo – as we lovingly refer to HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai.
The photo by WAM, the Emirates news agency, was taken at the
inauguration of the Al Jalila Foundation at Dubai Healthcare City on Monday,
April 1.
The non-profit organization was
established last November. It aims to promote the UAE as a center of excellence
in medical treatment, education and research. Other than funding medical
scholarships and researchers, the foundation hopes to publish scientific papers
and journals and sponsor medical conferences in collaboration with regional and
international institutes.
How Sheikha Al Jalila, born on December 2,
2007, has grown!
I last featured Sheikh Al Jalila at Mich Café two years ago in the arms
of her father at the March 2011 Dubai World Cup.
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| Princess Haya with Prince Mohammed and Sheikha Al Jalila with Sheikh Mo |
The black and white photograph on the left was taken some 35
years earlier at the Zahran Palace grounds in Amman.
It shows Jordan's Prince Mohammed holding none other
than the mother of Sheikha Al Jalila, HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein.
I was much honored when I was invited to cover the 15 June
1978 wedding of the late King Hussein of Jordan to Lisa Halaby, now Queen Noor.
I saw Sheikh Mo holding Sheikha Al Jalila on TV that
night at the Dubai World Cup and it immediately reminded me of the 1978 photo
of her mother in the arms of her uncle. It took me some time to find, but I did
in the coverage of the wedding in Monday Morning, the Beirut
English-language magazine I worked for at the time.
Sheikh Mohammed and Princess Haya, who married in 2004, were
also blessed with a baby boy on 7 January 2012.
“Princess Haya and I were blessed with a baby boy… We named
him ‘Zayed’,” is how Sheikh Mo welcomed the arrival of their second child on
Facebook on the same day.
Baby Sheikh Zayed is named after the founding father of the
UAE, HH Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan (1918-2004), very much loved,
respected and admired by the people of the Emirates and the international community.
Related posts:
Dubai sheikha's likeness to her mom – April 7, 2011
Dubai bird to sing Zayed's name -- January 9, 2012
