Queen Rania reveals the advice she gave to Princess Rajwa before announcing the engagement

American TV personality, Hoda Kotb, has hosted Queen Rania of Jordan on “The Today Show,” during the Queen’s presence in New York to participate in “Women Rise for All” event in New York, hosted by United Nations Deputy Secretary-General (DSG), Amina J. Mohammed.

During the interview, the Queen spoke about her four children, Princes Hussein, Iman, Salma, and Hashem, about their upbringing and attention to how they use social media and technology in general. She also spoke about Princess Rajwa, the wife of her eldest son, Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah II.

The queen said: “And, you know, in the span of three months, from the end of March to the beginning of June, I had two children get married and two graduate. I mean, what was I thinking?”

Hoda then asked: “So you’re an empty nester, so to speak?”

Queen Rania responded: “I’m an empty nester right now, you know, and it’s just this wave of emotions. You know, with Iman, it was a new experience for our family because she’s the first one to get married. And there was so much planning and anticipation, culminated in a really beautiful and emotional day. Nothing can prepare you for the moment you see your daughter in that white dress. You know, the mixture of emotions – pride at the strong and independent woman she’s become, joy for her joy, sadness for her leaving home… it all comes together and nothing can prepare you for that.”

Then Kotb went to discuss the topic of “kids and cell phones” and asked the queen “what is that like in your house?”

Queen Rania answered: “Look, I don’t think you can completely fight the trend. Because that’s where children are. I mean, that’s where the world is, technology is all around us. You can’t fight it completely, but you need to regulate it.”

Queen Rania’s advice to her daughter-in-law Princess Rajwa

In this context; Queen Rania revealed the first thing she advised Princess Rajwa Al Hussein before announcing her engagement to the Crown Prince.

Queen Rania said: “And I think it’s more about the values that you instill in your kids, you know, about themselves, the self-confidence, the discipline… all those things are important, and that will determine how they interact with their technology.

I mean, one of the first things when, just before my son announced his engagement, I took Rajwa to a side and the first thing I told her was, “You know, there’s no such thing as a 100% approval rating. You’re always going to have people that are against you. And the advice that I want to give you is, please try not to read the comments, you know, because that’s just gonna –  you’re just going to have self doubt. There’s always going to be negativity, and that negativity is not about you. It’s from the person; they’re unhappy in their own life, so don’t carry that unhappiness. Just keep focusing on what it is you want to do, because it’ll shake your confidence. You think it’s not going to affect your morale, but it does.”