Prince Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein

Prince Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein was born in 1964 in Amman, Jordan. He is the son of Prince Ra'ad bin Zeid, Lord Chamberlain of Jordan, and his Swedish-born wife Margaretha Inga Elisabeth Lind, known as Majda Ra'ad. He attended Reed’s School in Surrey before undertaking a B.A at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA. In 1987, Prince Zeid came up to Christ’s College where he read History and gained his PhD in 1993.

Prince Zeid served as Jordan's Deputy Permanent Representative, and then Permanent Representative, at the United Nations (UN) from 1996 to 2007. For three years he was then Jordan's Ambassador to the United States of America and non-resident Ambassador to Mexico. In 2010 he returned to the UN as Jordan's Permanent Representative.

In September 2014 he took up the post of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, stepping down from this role in 2018. In early 2019 he was appointed a member of The Elders, an independent group of global leaders working together for peace, justice and human rights.

Prince Zeid married Sarah Butler on the 5 July 2000 in Amman.