Queen Noor (left) and Hussein of Jordan (right).
On Doomsday, King Hussein, his wife Queen Noor, his son Abdullah, and some 25 advisors were on an economic tour of Asia. The party had arrived in Bangkok on September 25 and had planned to stay for three days. It was just after 8:00 AM, when word started to reach Thailand of the unfolding global tragedy. News reports were sketchy but everything indicated a nuclear war had erupted and contact could not be made with many areas. Over the next several days, the royal party stayed in the Jordanian Embassy trying to contact Jordan and gather as much information as they could. By September 28, the King decided he could not wait any longer and must return home. Dissuaded from using his plane because of the possible side effects of the lingering EMP, steps were taken, with the assistance of the Thai government, to charter a boat, load it with supplies, garrison it accordingly, and set–off for Jordan.
On October 2, 1983, the ship, carrying the royal party, guards and staff from the embassy, and several hired security personnel left Thailand in the company of a Thai Navy patrol craft which stayed with them for several days. The voyage would last over two weeks, with stops in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. They would survive two storms and in one particularly scary moment, successfully fight off a hostile ship which tried to stop and board them. By October 17, they would enter the Red Sea and encounter the Saudi Navy who would accompany them on the final leg of their journey, radioing ahead of the King’s arrival. On October 20, the boat docked in Elat, Jordan, greeted by thousands of Jordanians, including Prince Hassan and Prime Minister Badran. Feared lost or dead, King Hussein’s arrival seemed like a miracle and quickly spread across Jordan. For the first time since Doomsday, Jordanians felt they had hope for the future.
Hussein's return to Jordan is the subject of the 2016 feature film
The Return of the King.