A Day Fit for a Queen and King

The king and queen of Jordan did Hollywood on Tuesday, and at first blush it seemed the usual blend of glitz and foreign affairs, movie stars and world poverty--a routine day of canapes and celebrity children photos.

But this latest visit to Los Angeles to promote Jordan and an aid program seemed something of a public-relations role reversal.

King Abdullah II, who is known more for his grasp of policy, found himself commiserating with Sharon Stone over the difficulties of getting their children into private school.

And Her Majesty Queen Rania al Abdullah, who is often noted in the press for her beauty and style, gave a sober speech that could have been delivered at a United Nations conference.

It was a study in contrasts, from the moment King Abdullah pushed aside the weighty responsibilities of his monarchy and strode into the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel for a lunch with reporters, television executives, at least one high-powered talent agent and the casually dressed Stone.

In West Hollywood, at Morton’s--where the post-Oscar Vanity Fair party will be held Sunday--the young queen was sticking to the issues.

Up-by-the Bootstraps Program for the Poor

Dressed in a white suit, the 31-year-old Queen Rania soberly unveiled the Global Endowment for the Poor, a fund-raising drive for “micro-loans” to the poor in developing countries--an approach increasingly used to help women become economically self-sufficient.

Gloria Steinem, Morgan Fairchild, and Eunice and Sargent Shriver listened intently, along with a room filled with so many prominent female directors, producers and screenwriters that one co-host quipped that it seemed like a reunion of the defunct Hollywood Women’s Political Committee.

Queen Rania tried to speak their language too.

“This city feels like it’s been part of my life since I saw my first movie,” she said. “Consider that one of the things that the Taliban did when it wanted to cut people off from the world was to ban movies. And one of the first things people did when they were able was to open the cinemas again.”

News coverage of Queen Rania does not always focus extensively on her philanthropy. She is used to being interviewed about what she’s wearing. One Washington Post article quoted a man saying the queen “makes the words ‘infrastructure’ and ‘outsourcing’ sound sexy.”

Maybe that’s why Rania was so studiously serious as she talked about the new abused-children’s shelter in Jordan, the plans for a government battered-women’s shelter there, and the efforts to build grass-roots support for the passage of laws to protect women from “honor killings” carried out by male relatives who believe a woman has shamed the family.

Micro-loans, she said in a brief interview, are “an empowering tool” for women in the developing world. Micro-lending programs offer modest loans, as low as $100, to individuals rather than aiding organizations or governments. Often the loans go to women, who can use them to start small businesses.

From Housewives to Businesswomen

“We’ve seen in many traditional societies, where women are supposed to stay in the home, they have become the breadwinners of the family,” Rania said. “It’s a way to empower women economically and socially.”

Alison Anders, an independent director of such films as “Sugartown” and “Mi Vida Loca,” took a break from the casting of a TV pilot to attend.

“I’m interested in poor women. I raised children with a lot of help as a welfare mother,” Anders said. “I’m interested in how women survive and take care of their kids. I come from very impoverished roots, and she’s getting a hundred bucks from my family.”

For Anders, “Being from the holler of Kentucky, I loved the irony of going to see the queen.

“I’m just enormously grateful to people who know that fame and power is a gift and use it to better the world,” she said. “She’s so eloquent, and she really has a passion for what she’s doing.”

World Events Overshadow TV Show

Ostensibly, Abdullah was promoting an hourlong special that will air worldwide on the Travel Channel and Discovery Network on April 29. Filmed last April, “Jordan: The Royal Tour” is an effort to recover business lost since the escalating Mideast violence and Sept. 11.

Tourism usually accounts for 12% of the country’s gross domestic product, but in less than two years, that figure has dipped 42%. In the difficult-to-reach areas of the country, the drop-off is even worse, according to Malia Asfour, director of Jordan’s Tourism Board in North America. Consider Petra, a United Nations World Heritage Site that usually hosts about 2,500 visitors each month. Two months ago, eight tourists visited.

Although Jordan describes itself as the “Switzerland of the Middle East,” the country has been unable to reassure Americans that it is both safe and beautiful.

The charismatic, 40-year-old, motorcycle-riding Abdullah seemed like a perfect solution. For the West, he is a great public-relations front man. He speaks impeccable British English and is so fluent in U.S. pop culture that he even had a walk-on as a medical student on the second episode of “Voyager: Star Trek.” He admitted Tuesday that during his role as host of the TV travel special, he assumed the code name “Austin” in honor of one of his favorite flicks, “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.”

But almost no one at the lunch asked about the travel show. As with the appearance by the queen, glitz gave way to worldly concerns.

Guests peppered the king with questions about the crisis in the Middle East, Islamic militants and worldwide perceptions of the United States and President Bush. His responses were off the record.

Stone, seated next to him, chatted him up about her eating habits after requesting vegetarian versions of the fish lunch. She also showed Abdullah pictures of her toddler son and spoke about spirituality.

The king and his wife reunited for a meeting downtown. It was unclear whether he told her about the gift from Discovery executives, a mix of U.S. style and Middle Eastern monarchy: a black motorcycle helmet and two black leather Harley Davidson jackets embroidered with the Jordanian royal crest.