Hussein, Crown Prince of Jordan being King Hussein's eldest son; the King had appointed his younger brother Prince Hassan as heir designate in 1965. Shortly before his death on 7 February 1999, the King replaced Hassan with Abdullah. When Abdullah became king, he named his younger half-brother, Prince Hamzah, as heir designate on his accession. On 28 November 2004, King Abdullah removed Hamzah from his title as crown prince. Though the title of crown prince was left vacant, the Constitution of Jordan provides for agnatic primogeniture, meaning the monarch's eldest son is automatically first in the line of succession to the Jordanian throne unless decreed
Hussein of Jordan cousin Faisal II of Iraq, who was also studying there. Faisal was then King of Hashemite Iraq, but was under regency since he was the same age as Hussein. King Abdullah I, the founder of modern Jordan, did not see in his two sons Talal and Nayef potential for kingship, he focused his efforts on the upbringing of his grandson Hussein. A special relationship grew between the two. Abdullah assigned Hussein a private tutor for extra Arabic lessons, and Hussein acted as interpreter for his grandfather during his meetings with foreign leaders, as Abdullah understood English but could not speak