AMMAN, Jordan -- Queen Noor gets a little less of the limelight in Jordan now that she is no longer first lady.
But she still enjoys the advantages of being a queen and the mother of Prince Hamzeh, the 20-year-old heir to the Hashemite Throne.Noor, 48, is widely popular among Jordanians who watched her puffy-eyed vigil at the bedside of a gravely ill King Hussein before his death from cancer last Feb. 7.
"I am no longer the wife of the head of state," Noor said in a recent CNN interview. "But the rest of the details and how I am referred to ... hasn't changed."
"I am simply Queen Noor, my husband's wife and widow. And in Jordan, I remain for many people an extension of him, a part of him."
The American-born Lisa Halaby of Washington D.C. adopted the name Noor al-Hussein, or light of Hussein, when she converted to Islam before her marriage. She was instrumental in forging warm ties with the United States and ending Jordan's international ostracism for its perceived tilt toward Iraq following its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
These days, the queen leads seminars at home and abroad on issues such as ridding the world of mines, child care and combating drug abuse and violence against women.
She is often seen visiting indigent Jordanian families or inspecting state-financed social projects in remote villages of the kingdom, sometimes with Queen Rania, the wife of King Abdullah II.
There had been speculation that Noor had ruffled family feathers by grooming her son, Hamzeh, for the throne that for 34 years was reserved for Hussein's younger brother, Prince Hassan.
But days before his death, Hussein deposed Hassan and appointed Abdullah as his successor. When he became king, Abdullah named Hamzeh as his heir.
In public gatherings, Noor is seen kissing, hugging, chatting and laughing with Abdullah and other family members. In state functions, she is usually seated next to Abdullah and his wife.
People close to the royal family say Noor and Abdullah visit each other often.
Noor lives in a home on Amman's outskirts that she moved to with Hussein in 1998, called Bawabet as-Salam, or the Gate of Peace Palace. Hamzeh lives with Noor along with his two sisters -- Princess Iman, 17, and Princess Raiyah, 14. His brother, Prince Hashim, 19, is now studying at Britain's Sandhurst military academy.