In one my several life episodes as Forrest Gump I believe I once met the king of Jordan.
I was asked to accompany a friend who delivered art for an important delivery...As I wasn't busy at the time it got me out the house. Anywise, this was a portrait that had been commissioned from a Scottish artist on the strength of having won some prestige portrait competition in London.
The only problem was they wouldn't tell us where it was to go...so off we set and phoned up for details when we got to a certain area down sawf.
On not being able to find the place which was near a very well known racetrack we stopped off at the local pub to ask directions.. " Awww yea..." says one of the regulars: "Thats the King o' Jaawdan's 'awss.. " and promptly gave us good directions.
We were brought to a stop half way up the driveway by an electrical barrier...whereupon a security man met us and jumped in the third seat...wearing I noted as his jacket folded, a handgun in a body holster. Interestingly enough he was Scottish...and made a point of asking us the kind of questions no-one who wasn't wouldn't have an answer for. After this, he phoned up, the barrier dropped and we took the portrait up to the Mansion house ...after being thoroughly frisked and noting lots of somewhat incongrously clean guys half heartedly polishing a collection of expensive cars in a large garage...we took the portrait into a building opposite the main house where a very small balding elderly man sat on his own. He asked us to lay the portrait out and then inquired if we thought it a good likeness... We replied that it " seemed fine".
After we left my friend said " What the fuck was that all about!? " I replied: " Congratulations: you just met Hussain, king of Jordan... "
Ken, I am making an assumption that it was your good self that delivered the portrait of Yitzhak Rabin to King Hussain. It seems you knew whose portrait it was since you confirmed the likeness. It also seems you knew that the small balding man was King Hussain. How?
What a weird episode. Why would King Hussain commission that portrait or have it delivered to him? Have you speculated on that?
"...knew whose portrait it was since you confirmed the likeness. It also seems you knew that the small balding man was King Hussain. How?
Maybe he wasnt? Who knows, he may have surrounded himself with lookalikes. The man I saw was certainly older...rounder, more diminutive, but this was many, many years later than say, the image below where the both figure. ( Hussein on left)
It was indeed King Husseins house and as confirmed by his personal security detail, he was in residence. I recognised Rabin because my old man followed events in the Middle East pretty closely: I followed on and obviously still do.
I looked up the Rabin thing when I got back. Turns out that as these things go, they could be described as good friends. Though I was too well mannered to say it...I thought the painting was actually pretty poor: a "rush job". Something confirmed by the wet oil paint it left on my sleeve when unwrapping it.
On another Forrest Gump moment...did I ever tell you I met & shook hands with Daniel Ortaga...The Nicaraguan Sandinista Revolutionary leader who overthrew the Somoza regime?
"rush job" .. wet oil paint it left on my sleeve when unwrapping it.
Sounds tawdry. One would have thought that people in these 'circles' would have more 'class' and commission someone like .. I don't know .. Andy Warhol or whoever is the contemporary Michelangelo, and pay some serious dosh.
But back to that relationship between Hussain and Rabin (ta for the photo). Kind of explains that relationship between Jordan and Israel and shooting down of drones and missiles by Jordan aimed at Israel (I am assuming Jordanians would have got the same Iranian memo as the US). Jordanian 'street' must be furious.
Fwiw I've been to Jordan many many moons ago. For some reason I mainly remember the Nabatean architecture in the desert valley (basically Roman in style). Amman obviously was not impressive enough for me to recall bits from there.
"One would have thought that people in these 'circles' would have more 'class' and commission someone like .. I don't know .. Andy Warhol or whoever is the contemporary Michelangelo, and pay some serious dosh. "
As I recall I think it might have painted by Alison Watt...who had just done the Queen-mother for the National Potrait Gallery beforehand... so the price wouldn't have been negligable.
"Kind of explains that relationship between Jordan and Israel and shooting down of drones and missiles by Jordan aimed at Israel..."
-That's why I posted the anecdote: things are not as people assume via a vis Jordan-Israel as Matte and Blumenthal point out above.
"Interesting about the Ortega .."
-Lol! There was a lot of pro-Sandinista sentiment in Glasgow at the time...lots of sympathisers and what might now be called "activists". One of my friends who used to refer proudly to Scottish Nicaraguan sympathisers as "The Jockinistas" herded us all to go to a Nicaraguan Solidarity Campaign talk on the Contras being given in a marquee on Glasgow Green by the Nicaraguan Consul. ...Lo and behold the Consul arrived and excitedly announced we had a "Very Special Guest" No less that the now President of Nicaragua...who had flown over to thank the citizens of Glasgow for many years firm support.
So there you are: he appeared, gave a speech in the little tent on the Green and we all got to meet Ortaga who stood proudly in his semi-military duds and shook hands with us all.
Hmmmm, I have vague memories of one of my cousins working as a volunteer in Nicaragua after the Sandinista victory.The last working-class hero in England.
Clio the cat, ? July 1997 - 1 May 2016 Kira the cat, ? ? 2010 - 3 August 2018 Jasper the Ruffian cat ? ? ? - 4 November 2021