It was an emotionally charged scene worthy of an Oprah Winfrey show when a mother and son who had been parted for 25 years were reunited on live TV. However the American chat show queen had no hand in the happy moment, instead it was a real life royal – Jordan’s Queen Rania - who had masterminded the moving episode.
Known for her compassionate nature and humanitarian work, Rania - a mother of four – had been touched by the plight of Mohammed Shamas who had spoken on Jordanian TV show Al Forssah about the pain of being separated from his mother for so long. He had only seen what she looked like through low quality pictures exchanged over email.
Producers managed to set up a video link from Gaza so he could see his mother Wafa Abu Shehada clearly, but it was King Abdullah’s wife who worked to get his mum from Gaza to Jordan for a meeting in the flesh. And in an extraordinary move, she accompanied the mother to the show where the pair was finally reunited.
It was an emotional moment for everyone, not least the queen. “As a mother, I can only imagine the pain of being separated from your children,” she said, “and there is nothing that makes me happier than seeing such a moving reunion.”
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