Don’t Bow Before Jordan’s ‘Royalty’

Am I the only person mortified by seeing other Americans applauding and fawning over Jordan’s Queen Rania (“Her Grand Entrance,” April 4)? Like his father before him, her husband, Abdullah II, claims to be a king, and he calls his wife the queen, but these are just euphemistic words for what amounts to dictator for life. The Middle East is a deeply troubled region, and all the trouble owes itself to the tyranny of these dictatorships, including Jordan’s.

While good works and charity involvement are always commendable, Queen Rania presents a deceptively attractive surface that hides the tragic and terrible reality of millions of people living without the freedom of democracy.

JENNIFER HORSMAN

Laguna Beach