In Jordan, coup trial shakes public confidence in royal family
The former head of the royal court in the dock, a jilted former crown prince called to the witness stand, a member of the royal family in prison garb – Jordan’s coup plot trial has all the ingredients to live up to its billing as the “trial of the century.”
But as the military tribunal surrounding an alleged plot to undermine King Abdullah continues its closed-door sessions, something is being broken: a decades-old taboo against discussing the royal family in public.
“It is like a period soap opera, but we are watching it live,” says Muna, a 20-something accessories vendor, alluding to a gush of leaks, rumors, and comments about the trial from the government, foreign intelligence agencies, and lawyers.
With the royal family suddenly under the spotlight, revelations about its own divisions are
Shakespearean plotMany sides, many opinionsPublic enemy No. 1Reforms?