Regarding Rania

KHALIL MAZRAWI/AFP/GETTY

INSPIRATION: Posing with starstruck students at Amman's Kamalia School for Girls on Human Rights Day

Stepping out of her gunmetal-gray SUV and striding into the compound of Amman's Kamalia School for Girls, Rania al Abdullah doesn't fit the prim, circumspect image of an Arab Queen. For one thing, she's wearing a snug-fitting metallic gold top, matching pants and two-inch heels, and her mane of glossy brown hair brushes across her shoulders as she walks. For another, rather than standing around exchanging pleasantries, she's walking briskly to her appointment like a busy CEO heading for a board meeting. Nor could she seem more unlike the audience that awaits her inside the school: 28 teenage girls in drab...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!