HRH Crown Prince Hussein celebrates his 18th birthday on Thursday. On the occasion, His Majesty King Abdullah sent a letter to the Crown Prince, in which he urged him to follow in the steps of the Hashemite leaders and learn their vision for governance, which is based on a true sense of belonging to the nation, and an approach characterised with tolerance, forgiveness, respect of the people, helping the vulnerable and treating all on equal footing His Majesty said the Prince was now fit to shoulder responsibilities and asked him to treat the message as a “beacon” that guides him in the days to come and through the stages of his life. Prince Hussein was born on June 28, 1994. He is the eldest son of Their Majesties the King and Queen Rania. A Royal Decree was issued on July 2, 2009 naming Prince Hussein as Crown Prince. The Prince has accompanied the King on several visits and tours of various governorates. He has also accompanied the King on several official and military missions and functions at home and abroad. The Crown Prince, who holds the rank of second lieutenant in the Jordan Armed Forces (JAF), completed his secondary education at King’s Academy this year. The Prince has interests in reading and sports. He has one brother, HRH Prince Hashem, and two sisters, Their Royal Highnesses Princess Iman and Princess Salma. On Wednesday, the Crown Prince attended a graduation ceremony at the Royal Jordanian Command and Staff College, deputising for King Abdullah, Supreme Commander of the JAF, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. The Crown Prince was received at the college by HRH Prince Feisal, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Gen. Mashal Al Zaben, and directors of the public security, civil defence and gendarmerie departments. At the end of the ceremony, the Prince presented certificates to the graduates, who included 63 officers from the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Palestine, Qatar, Pakistan, France and the US.