Talal bin Abdullah (Arabic: طلال بن عبد الله, Ṭalāl ibn ʻAbd Allāh; 26 February 1909 – 7 July 1972) was King of Jordan from the assassination of his father, King Abdullah I, on 20 July 1951 until his forced abdication on 11 August 1952. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of Jordan since 1921, Talal was a 39th-generation direct descendant of Muhammad.[1]
Talal was born in Mecca as the eldest child of Abdullah bin Hussein and his wife Musbah bint Nasser. Abdullah was a son of Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, who led the Great Arab Revolt during World War I against the Ottoman Empire in 1916. After removing Ottoman rule, Abdullah established the Emirate of Transjordan in 1921, which became a British Protectorate, and ruled as its Emir. During Abdullah's absence, Talal spent his early years alone with his mother. Talal received private education in Amman, later joining Transjordan's Arab Legion as second lieutenant in 1927. He then became aide to his grandfather Sharif Hussein, the ousted king of the Hejaz, during his exile in Cyprus. By 1948, Talal became a general in the Arab Legion.
Abdullah sought independence in 1946, and the Emirate became the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Talal became crown prince upon his father's designation as king of Jordan. Abdullah was assassinated in Jerusalem in 1951, and Talal became king. Talal's most revered achievement as king is the establishment of Jordan's modern constitution in 1952, rendering his kingdom a constitutional monarchy. He ruled for less than thirteen months until he was forced to abdicate by Parliament because he was experiencing a mental illness, reported as schizophrenia. Talal spent the rest of his life at a sanatorium in Istanbul and died there on 7 July 1972. He was succeeded by his oldest son Hussein.
