Raiyah bint Al-Hussein of Jordan has quietly split from her husband, Ned Donovan. The princess, the half-sister of Jordan’s King Abdullah II, married Roald Dahl’s grandson in July 2020. The moment marked the first royal wedding celebrated after the pandemic lockdown.
Reportedly, the couple has split up, with Ned, 32, moving on with Megan Tomlin, an American influencer. According to Richard Eden’s reporting in the Daily Mail, Ned and Megan got married last week at St. Margaret’s Church in Babington, Somerset.
Guests included his half-sister, the author Sophie Dahl, and his godfather, Sir Nicholas Coleridge, the new chairman of the King’s Foundation and provost of Eton College, the prestigious college that Prince George is expected to attend.
Ned has been through a tough few years. His father, Patrick Donovan, died of cancer in 2021. Then in 2024, Ned was injured while stopping a pickpocket near Parliament. He later told London’s Metropolitan Police that he felt let down by the “failures” within the force.
© Raiyah bint Al-HusseinPrincess Raiyah and Ned Donovan’s Royal Wedding in 2020
Princess Raiyah, 40, and Ned married in 2020 in an outdoor, socially distanced ceremony. Raiyah’s mother, Queen Noor, the American-born former queen of Jordan and widow of the late King Hussein, was in attendance.
At the time, Princess Raiyah posted two photos on her account on X. One showed her sitting behind her husband as he signed the marriage certificate.
The other showed the couple standing on a stone terrace overlooking a lush garden, cheering with their guests. Raiyah’s wedding dress was an embroidered, high-necked gown, which she paired with a beaded headpiece.
The wedding had originally been planned for April 2020 but got pushed back because of the pandemic. At the time, she wrote, “Thank you all for your kind messages about our wedding!”
© AFP via Getty ImagesPrincess Raiyah’s Impressive Academic Background
Princess Raiyah has spent much of her life pursuing her studies. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Edinburgh, then went on to get a master’s in Japanese literature from Columbia University in New York. She later completed a PhD in premodern Japanese literature at UCLA.
Ned, who has worked as a freelance foreign correspondent for The Daily Mail and The Times, is the son of writer Tessa Dahl and Patrick Donovan. He’s the grandson of the revered children’s author Roald Dahl, who wrote books like “Matilda,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” and more.
The couple got engaged in October 2019, and Jordan’s Royal Hashemite Court announced it in November.
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