Who would be Queen of Iraq today?

The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq existed between 1932 and 1958 and was originally founded as the Kingdom of Iraq in 1921 following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. The Kingdom operated under Salic law, which barred women from inheriting the throne. Thus, the Queens mentioned will always be Queen consorts. Any titles mentioned after the end of the monarchy are titular.

The first King of Iraq was King Faisal I. He was also briefly King of Syria. He had married Huzaima bint Nasser in 1904, making her the first Queen of Iraq (and Syria). The couple had three daughters, Princess Azza, Princess Rajiha and Princess Rafia, and one son, the future King Ghazi. The Queen and the Princesses lived in seclusion and only appeared in the company of women.

King Faisal died of a heart attack in 1933, and he was succeeded by his only son, King Ghazi. On 25 January 1934, King Ghazi married his paternal first cousin, Princess Aliya bint Ali, whose father had been King of Hejaz and Grand Sharif of Mecca. Aliya became the second Queen of Iraq upon her marriage to the King. Their only child, the future King Faisal II, was born on 2 May 1935. Aliyah and her husband soon became estranged from each other. King Ghazi died in a car accident on 4 April 1939. He was succeeded by his only child, King Faisal II, who was just about to be four years old.

Queen Aliya promoted her brother, Prince Abdullah, as regent for her son. He remained regent until 1953, with an interlude in 1941 when there was a coup d’état by former Prime Minister Rashid Ali al-Gaylani. He was also named Crown Prince of Iraq in 1943. Queen Aliya died of cancer on 21 December 1950.

King Faisal II remained unmarried during his reign, although he was engaged at the time of his death. The Kingdom came to an end on 14 July 1958, following a coup d’état led by Brigadier Abd al-Karim Qasim. In the violence that followed the coup, many members of the royal family were killed, such as King Faisal II, Crown Prince Abdullah, Princess Nafeesa (Abdullah’s mother) and Princess Abadiya (King Faisal II’s aunt). Crown Princess Hiyam was wounded but survived – she eventually remarried, had two children and died in 1999.

With so many killed, who would carry on the claim to the Iraqi throne?

The claim was inherited by Zeid bin Hussein Al Hashimi, who was the fourth son of Hussein bin Ali and a brother of King Faisal I. He was thus King Faisal II’s great-uncle. Prince Zeid was living in London at the time of the coup with his wife, Princess Fahrelnissa Zeid, who therefore became the first titular Queen of Iraq. The couple had one son together, and she also had three children from her first marriage. Prince Zeid died in 1970 and was succeeded in his claim by his only son, Prince Ra’ad bin Zeid.

He had married Swedish-born Margaretha Inga Elisabeth Lind in 1963; she was known as Majda Ra’ad after her marriage. She was thus the second titular Queen consort of Iraq. They had five children together: Zeid (born 1964), Mired (born 1965), Firas (born 1969), Faisal (born 1975) and Fakhrelnissa (born 1981). Majda died on 3 January 2025, making the position of titular Queen consort of Iraq currently vacant.

Their eldest son, Zeid, is married to American-born Sarah Butler, now known as Sarah Zeid, who would thus be the next titular Queen consort.