Aliya bint Ali

Who was Aliya bint Ali?

Aliya bint Ali of Hejaz, was an Arabian princess and a queen consort of Iraq. She was the spouse of king Ghazi of Iraq and the queen mother of Faisal II of Iraq. She was the last queen of Iraq.

Princess Aliya bint Ali was the second daughter of Ali bin Hussein, King of the Hijaz and Grand Sharif of Mecca.

On January 25, 1934 Aliya bint Ali married king Ghazi I of Iraq in Baghdad, Iraq. They had one son:

Faisal II, King of Iraq - born May 2, 1935 died July 14, 1958.

Queen Aliya eventually separated from king Ghazi. When Ghazi died in a car crash on 4 April 1939, the politician Nuri as-Said was widely suspected of being implicated in his death. At the royal funeral crowds chanted: “You will answer for the blood of Ghazi, Nuri.” Nuri was suspected to have been in contact with queen Aliya and plotted with the brother of the queen, 'Abd al-Ilah, to depose the king Nuri supported the accession of 'Abd al-Ilah as regent for Ghazi’s successor, Faisal II, who was still a minor. The new regent was initially susceptible to Nuri’s influence. As her son, the last monarch of Iraq, did not marry, Aliya was the last queen of Iraq.