Jordan’s queen pushes back on questions over wardrobe spending

Jordan’s Queen Rania released a video Thursday seeking to pad her public image after facing questions over her wardrobe spending.

The queen’s office earlier this month pushed back on a fashion blog’s estimate of the cost of Rania’s clothing in 2017, which was higher than any other royal.

In the new video, which splices clips of the queen speaking in English and Arabic, Rania discusses the challenges faced by Arab youth and ongoing wars in the Middle East.

“We have grown accustomed to news of the displaced dying at sea, to images of bloody children pulled from rubble, to gutted homes and entire neighborhoods reduced to debris,” she says.

First lady Melania Trump walks with Jordan’s Queen Rania at the White House, Monday, June 25, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

In another clip, the queen advocates putting concern for others ahead of personal popularity.

“We can all agree that we prefer to positively impact the life of one person than get a million likes,” she says in Arabic, according to a translation by Israel’s Channel 13 news.

בשל הביקורת על אורח חייה: מלכת ירדן מתגוננת בסרטון חדש • @zeragil עם הפרטים המלאים >> https://t.co/5BnlhtT2MC pic.twitter.com/FxzTaFlEG6

— חדשות 13 (@newsisrael13) January 17, 2019

Queen Rania, who has a large following on social media, issued a statement earlier this month denying she spent €267,238 ($304,545) on clothes in 2017, as the UFO No More blog reported.

Jordan’s Queen Rania, right, and Dutch Queen Maxima, center, listen to an explanation by museum director Benno Tempel, left, on works by Dutch artist Piet Mondriaan, rear, at the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, March 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

“With Her Majesty the Queen seeking to represent Jordan properly, she is keen on a balance between the appropriate representation and moderate spending. Most of Her Majesty’s clothes are borrowed from fashion houses, offered as gifts, or bought at reduced preferential prices,” her office said in an Arabic statement on her Facebook page, according to Gulf News.

Jordan’s Queen Rania listens to speeches during a luncheon hosted by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in The Hague, Netherlands, on March 21, 2018. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

“Fashion blogs calculate their estimates solely on the market value of the clothes, which results in false impressions that do not reflect reality,” the statement added.

It also said the queen requested that UFO No More, the royal fashion website, not include her in future estimates of royals’ clothing costs.

“You will notice that Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan is not on this year’s list as she was last year. After discussions with the Royal Hashemite Court and the Office of Her Majesty, we have taken Her Majesty out of our tally and off our website so as to not cause any ‘damage’ to her from our calculations of the yearly worth of her clothing,” the blog wrote in a post on royal wardrobe spending in 2018.