Jordan's Prince Hamzah relinquishes royal title

Earlier this month, Jordan's Royal Court published an apology letter it said came from Prince Hamzah after a public feud with the monarch last year
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Jordan's Prince Hamzah has given up his royal title [Getty]

Jordan's Prince Hamzah bin Al-Hussein is relinquishing his title of prince, he said in a statement on Sunday, a year after a rare palace feud saw him placed under house arrest.

"After what I have touched and witnessed in recent years, I have concluded that my personal convictions and the values that my father instilled in me, and which I tried hard in my life to adhere to, are not in line with the approaches, trends and modern methods of our institution," Prince Hamzah said in the letter on his official Twitter account.

"So from the point of faithfulness to God and consciousness, I do not see any choice except to give up and relinquish the title of prince," he added.

The Royal Court had no immediate comment.

King Abdullah II and Hamzah are both sons of King Hussein, who ruled Jordan for nearly a half-century before his death in 1999.

Abdullah had appointed Hamzah as crown prince upon his succession but stripped him of the title in 2004.

The prince apologised last month for his role in the alleged plot, the Royal Palace said.

He was accused last year of involvement in a plot to destabilise the Western-allied kingdom and was placed under house arrest last April.

In a video statement at the time, he denied the allegations, saying he was being punished for speaking out against official corruption.

Last year’s feud between Abdullah and his half-brother was a rare case of infighting within the Hashemite royal family going public.

At one point Jordan imposed a gag order on reporting about the events, reflecting the sensitivity of issues surrounding the royal family.

Particulars about the alleged plot have never been made public.

Jordan is a close Western ally and has long been seen as an island of stability in a turbulent region.