Category: News

A Texas mom wants parents to check their kids’ phones for an app called Zepeto and delete it immediately. Her biggest concern? The app has a private messaging feature that can lead to inappropriate conversations with predators. 

The mom, who isn’t revealing her name for privacy concerns, also shared an emotional plea that’s since gone viral on TikTok, where she posts as @theanxiouslegomom. She says she didn’t think anything of it when her daughter asked for the app several months ago.

“Fast forward to a few weeks ago and I’m noticing she is on this app far more than her other ones, including Roblox,” she tells Parents. “So I go through her phone and the app and find messages on there of a man asking her age. The profile picture looked like a younger kid, maybe no older than a teenager.” 

It gets worse: “He continues to ask if she has ever had sex, asking for photos of her, and sending inappropriate pictures as well,” the mom shares of her 12-year-old’s experience.

Luckily, her daughter didn’t respond. “She truly just wanted to play the game,” the mother says. “While others may see this as no big deal, it’s a major deal to me. This could have gone south and I wanted other parents to know.”

What Is Zepeto?

Founded in 2018, Zepeto is a Korean metaverse-type social app where you can create a 3D avatar, play games, and hang out in virtual worlds. You can chat with people, explore different worlds, and even personalize your avatar with clothes, physical features, and more. 

“Think of it like a mix between Roblox and Facebook,” says Titania Jordan, Bark Technologies’ Chief Parent Officer and author of Parental Control. “It may be relatively unknown in the U.S., but it’s wildly popular in Asia, boasting 300 million users.” 

The app is officially rated 12+ on the App Store and “teen” on Google Play. But Bark doesn’t think it’s appropriate for kids under 15.

Is Zepeto Safe?

There are a few red flags that parents should know when it comes to their children using the app.

“Since a lot of the content is user-generated, there’s always a chance of running into stuff that’s not exactly kid-friendly—like suggestive avatars or mature-themed rooms,” says Jordan. “Like Roblox, there is content similar to ‘condo games’ where avatars simulate romance and sex, like in the ‘penthouse.’”

Back to that chat feature on Zepeto. It creates a high likelihood that kids could end up talking to people they don’t know. “This raises concerns about running into inappropriate content, potential grooming, and even cyberbullying,” says Jordan.

Since making her video, which has more than 13.9 million views, the Tiktok mom says she’s had parents reach out to share their own scary stories. “There is blackmail, actual meetups, and one of them is dealing with their 12-year-old being abused,” the mom says. “It’s sickening and I had no idea how deep this could have gone until I made the video.”

Another problem is it’s far too easy to bypass age limits, Jordan points out, saying, “Even though the app is rated for teens, younger kids can still make accounts pretty easily, which means they might be exposed to things they aren’t ready for.”

Dangers of virtual reality

David Acosta, co-founder and chief artificial intelligence officer at the AI-powered data platform ARBOai, also finds the app dangerous because of its features. “It is built on the same concept of Sims and Second Life, but now with VR and interoperable metaverse options, it’s going to become a more robust experience, which can be bad for kids,” he says. 

He explains that Gen Z—those born between 1997 and 2012—are already noted as being a desensitized and introverted group and apps like Zepeto may escalate that. “It’s not to say that tech and leisure/fun shouldn’t be had but this is where parenting becomes so critical as it’s what kids do in their spare time that shapes their futures,” says Acosta.

For younger kids, he says the same applies but adds that they’re typically more impressionable and may have a hard time understanding what is real and what is not.

“More education is needed, especially for parents, on the power that tech is capable of having over their children,” Acosta says. “It’s not the app so much as it is the concept of extended reality. As an advocate of simulations and AI, I think we all have immense responsibility to roll out the tech with caution and not dive in headfirst.”

Parents reached out to Zepeto but didn’t receive a response at the time of the publication. 

What Can Parents Do?

Many of the above concerns aren’t exclusive to just Zepeto. Jordan suggests a number of ways parents can make sure their children are safe online.

• Adjust privacy settings. Make sure chats are locked down so children are not talking to random strangers. Also, remind them not to share personal info. Parental controls like Bark can be used to block the app completely, or at the very least, limit the amount of time a child is on it.
• Talk about online safety. Have an open conversation about what’s safe to share online and what to do if something makes your child uncomfortable. The TikTok mom highlights this point. “Talking to your kids and their peers is so important,” she says.
• Decide if it’s right for them. If your child is under 15, it might be best to hold off on letting them use Zepeto until they’re older and can handle online interactions more responsibly. The same goes for any app they are showing interest in.

When she was arrested, a covert police recording captured Joanne Sharkey, 56, telling her husband: “I’m not going to f***ing deny it. It is what it is isn’t it. I f***ing did it.”

A housing benefit officer who killed her newborn son nearly 30 years ago while she was suffering from post natal depression and buried him near a theme park told police her secret had been ‘haunting’ her for decades.

“Do you know it’s been a bit of a relief. I feel sick to the stomach for what I have done. It’s out. It’s come off my chest,” Joanne Sharkey told cops.

The body of the infant, who came to be known as Baby Callum, was discovered inside two black bin bags, one inside the other, in woodland close to Gulliver’s World in Warrington on March 14, 1998. A post mortem examination revealed the infant had suffered bruising to the head and neck and his mouth had been stuffed with wads of tissue paper.

Hundreds of people were interviewed, with local hospitals, midwife services, GP practices, and schools all checked to identify any young females that may have given birth during that period. A full DNA sample of the baby was extracted from blood taken from his body – but there was no match on the police DNA database.

But following a DNA breakthrough earlier this year Joanne Sharkey, of Denham Close in Croxteth, Liverpool, was charged with murdering the youngster, who was believed to be a matter of hours old at the time of his death, and concealing the birth of a child.

The 56-year-old had been scheduled to face a trial in March but she pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility as well as concealing the birth of a child.

Today (Friday March 21) she re-appeared at Liverpool Crown Court where shocking details of the case were outlined in public for the first time ahead of her sentencing.

The court heard she was suffering from post-natal depression following the birth of her first child Matthew and it was said she could not face the birth of another, the infant she killed who became known as Baby Callum. She killed him by suffocating him moments after his birth, cleaned up afterwards and then concealed the body, according to the prosecution.

When she was eventually arrested decades later following a DNA breakthrough, prosecutor Jonas Hankin KC told the court a covert recording captured Sharkey telling her husband, who had also been arrested, in a patrol car: “I’m not going to f***ing deny it. It is what it is isn’t it. I f***ing did it.”

When she was interviewed Sharkey expressed relief that her crime had finally been uncovered. Asked how she felt, she said: “Do you know it’s been a bit of a relief. I feel sick to the stomach for what I have done. It’s out. It’s come off my chest.”

She described the secret she had been keeping as ‘haunting – something you think about every day’.

She described keeping her pregnancy secret and details of giving birth to baby Callum probably in the bathroom of her home when nobody else was home. In her police interview, Sharkey told officers she heard muffled crying of the newborn moments after birth. She described reaching down and covering his mouth and nose.

“It just could not make that noise. Just to be quiet.” she told officers. Asked why she had wanted the infant to be quiet, she said: “I knew I just had to… It had to be quiet. Then he was quiet.”

The court heard that consultant psychologists acting for both the prosecution and the defence agreed that her mental state at the time of her crime was ‘a result of post-natal depression following the birth of her first child’. She was said to have been ‘fearful’ of having a second child and ‘resorted to a process of denial of her pregnancy throughout its course’.

She had told work colleagues she did not want another child but became pregnant in the summer of 1997, when she was 28. Sharkey was said to be an ‘educated woman’ with A-levels in maths and economics who worked as a council housing benefits officer, the court was told.

The body of the baby Callum was discovered close to the Gulliver’s World theme park in Warrington in March 1998. A dog walker discovered him, a few hours old, wrapped in a plastic bag on March 14 1998.

A post mortem examination discovered bruising to the infant’s neck and head. Images of the injuries – only shown to the barristers in court – were said to show injuries to the throat, bruising to ‘multiple locations’ on the head, bruising to the ‘internal structures’ of the neck, bleeding under the left eye as well as ‘wads of tissue paper’ in the infant’s mouth and more ‘screwed up’ tissue paper impacting the larynx.

The infant was found inside two black bin liners, one inside the other and both tied up at the top.

A DNA profile of Baby Callum came up with no matches on national databases but there was a breakthrough when Sharkey’s first child Mathew was arrested and his DNA was found to be a ‘very close match’, the KC told the court.

“On July 28, 2023, 25 years and four months after she had disposed of her infant (the defendant) was arrested for his murder,” said Mr Hankin.

Sharkey immediately told officers her husband Neil, the father, ‘knows nothing about it’. Both Sharkey and her husband were arrested although no further action was taken against Neil, the court was told.

In her police interview, Sharkey said she began ‘showing’ five months into her pregnancy but she ‘kept the secret to myself’.

Asked how she kept her pregnancy secret, the defendant answered that she and Neil ‘were ships that passed in the night’. She said: “He’d been working shifts… I wasn’t huge, so, you put a little bit of weight on, it’s the winter; you’ve ate a little bit too much, you know, you put a bigger jumper on. I kept myself to myself for that time … didn’t socialise for the last few months and just kept everyone at arm’s length.”

She recalled a ‘quick’ labour of about two-and-a-half hours and that ‘he just sort of came out without me doing anything”.

After the birth she said she ‘just had to make him quiet’. Asked what happened then, she said: “I sort of reached down, I must have been on the floor at this point… I’ve covered his nose, his mouth. It just couldn’t make that noise, just to be quiet.”

The court heard a contemporary review of the post mortem examination concluded that, despite the presence of bruising and tissue in the mouth, the medical cause of death was ‘unascertained’.

During the hearing Sharkey, wearing a white jumper and flanked by a single female dock officer, sat with her head bowed, watched by her husband Neil, now adult son Matthew and father Stephen in the public gallery.

Nina Graeme KC, mitigating for Sharkey, said her family ‘remain supportive’ of the defendant, adding that her client ‘accepts her actions caused the death of her infant’.

The psychologists who assessed Sharkey agreed the defendant had ‘traits’ of autism, said the KC, who reminded the court that during her police interview she could not recall intending to harm the infant. “Her primary intent throughout was to conceal,” said the barrister.

“The situation was unplanned and giving birth was chaotic and Joanne Sharkey…. used materials which must have been immediately to hand,” said the KC, who said the paper found in the infant’s mouth ‘must have been toilet tissue’.

Her client had ‘nothing to assist her’ in the birth and nor anything to cut the umbilical cord which was ‘torn’, said the KC. Her client’s conduct had been characterised by ‘panic, fear and illogical thought processes’.

The KC said her client, who has no previous convictions, had never ‘denied’ that baby Callum was born alive but instead she simply ‘didn’t know’ at the time, although she now accepts the baby must have been born. The impact of the case on her client had been ‘enormous’ and the defendant had shown ‘courage’ in making admissions to the police.

“Mrs Sharkey is an educated woman. She has possessed in her life organisational skills, practical knowledge. It’s also right to say she also has been for many years a much-loved wife and mother and a valued colleague and friend,” said the KC, adding that when she gave birth to Callum she did so ‘isolated, in panic and in pain’.

She said it was ‘inconceivable’ that she would have acted in such a way without suffering a ‘depressive illness’ at the time for which she received no help.

The barrister asked the judge to suspend any prison sentence.

Adjourning the sentence until Aril 3 or 3, Mrs Justice Eady told the defendant: “I need to reflect and think carefully about what’s the appropriate course.”

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A mother who admitted killing her baby 27 years ago said her arrest in 2023 was a “relief”, telling detectives: “It’s not easy to live with all that time. I thought this would happen, you don’t get away with anything forever”.

Joanne Sharkey, 55, was described in court as an “educated woman”, employed as a benefits officer for West Lancashire Council in 1997 and 1998, when she killed her newborn son, and dumped his body in woodland in Warrington.

She had concealed her pregnancy from her husband, friends and work colleagues by wearing baggy clothes and not socialising, Liverpool Crown Court heard on Friday.

The court heard she was only arrested decades later when DNA linked Sharkey’s first child, who had been arrested for an unrelated offence, with that of the baby.

Mr Jonas Hankin KC, for the prosecution, told Sharkey’s sentencing hearing that she had told a friend that she couldn’t go through a second pregnancy, having had a first child with her husband over a year earlier.

The body of the baby boy, later named Callum by police, was found inside two knotted bin bags close to Gulliver’s World theme park in Warrington, Cheshire, on 14 March 1998, by a dog walker who became curious and poked a hole in the bags with a stick.

The baby was discovered with wads of tissue stuffed in his mouth.

The discovery sparked a widespread police investigation, with inquiries made at local hospitals, GP surgeries, and at homes in the surrounding area. Posters were put up and a mail drop was co-ordinated to encourage people to come forward with information.

Some young women were even named by their own families as the potential perpetrator, leading to their arrests and then later elimination by DNA profiling, the court heard.

A breakthrough came in 2023 when a periodic review of the national DNA database discovered the DNA profile of Sharkey’s first child was a likely match for the dead baby’s brother, and Sharkey was then identified as the mother.

Sharkey was arrested in July 2023, and had been due to face trial for murder, before she entered a guilty plea to manslaughter by diminished responsibility.

The court heard that after the birth of her first child Sharkey had found “the combination of a full time job, working five days a week and motherhood challenging”. She has since been diagnosed with suffering from post-natal depression at the time of the baby’s death.

Mr Hankin, for the prosecution, told the court that Sharkey told police she had never spoken to anybody about what had happened, but admitted she had thought about it “a million times”.

Asked why she never told anyone else, Sharkey told police: “I couldn’t actually say the words. It’s not easy to live with all that time. I thought this would happen. You don’t get away with anything forever… You try and push it out, but it creeps back in.”

She described trying to get on with family events like Christmas and Easter “but this is always in your head”.

The court heard Sharkey told the police she was terrified that someone would come knocking on the door, telling them: “You are waiting for it, one day it was going to happen and it did.”

She described what she had done to police as “horrendous, the worst thing ever”, and, speaking about the arrest, said: “It’s been a bit of a relief to be fair. I feel sick to the stomach for what I’ve done. It’s out. It’s come off my chest.”

Sharkey told police she was able to hide the pregnancy from her husband because he was doing shift work at the time. The court heard she likely gave birth alone in the bathroom of her home.

She told police she “covered his nose, his mouth” to get the baby to be quiet. “I knew I just had to, it had to be quiet, then he was quiet”, Mr Hankin described Sharkey as saying.

Sharkey told the police she was not able to account for the head or neck bruising found on Baby Callum, and said she did not touch the baby during the birth.

She admitted she must have cleaned up the scene, and then put the baby in a bag before driving to dispose of the body.

Mr Hankin told the sentencing judge on Friday: “If she had not been suffering from a moderately severe depressive illness, she would not have killed her infant. This does not mean that the defendant was not to blame for what she did, but her culpability was much less than it would have been had she not been ill.”

The court heard two doctors gave the baby’s medical cause of death as “unascertained” and could not determine whether he had been alive when the tissue was put in his mouth.

The sentence hearing is ongoing.

Delivering his conclusion, Dr Adeley, said: “Ida was a normal child whose death was caused by a lack of oxygen during her delivery that occurred due to the gross failure of the three midwives attending her to provide basic medical care to deliver Ida urgently when it was apparent she was in distress.”

And he noted that her death was contributed to by the lead midwife’s “wholly incompetent” failure to provide basic neonatal resuscitation during the first three-and-half minutes of her life.

This, he said, further contributed to the infant’s brain damage.

The senior coroner also criticised the hospital’s investigation into Ida’s death, calling it a “damning indictment of an ineffective, dysfunctional and callous system that has failed this family at every opportunity”.

UHMBT was the subject of a damning report in 2015 that found a “lethal mix” of problems at another of its maternity units at Furness General Hospital that led to the unnecessary deaths of 11 babies and one mother between 2004 and 2013.

The Morecambe Bay investigation, chaired by Dr Bill Kirkup, uncovered a series of failures “at every level”, from the unit itself to those responsible for regulating and monitoring the trust.

Additional reporting by PA Media.

A father has spoken of how close his family came to being seriously injured after a massive sinkhole opened up in his garden where his children were playing just hours earlier.

The emergence of a 60ft crater in the Surrey village of Godstone forced the evacuation of 30 households last month after a water pipe burst under the high street.

Only six households have been allowed to move back so far as investigations into the cause of the crater continue.

Rezgar Miri, who lives right next to the sinkhole, has been told it may take a year until his dream family home is declared safe.

He has now spoken of a smaller sinkhole opening in his garden where his children were hours earlier playing on the trampoline, which nearly tumbled into the two-metre crevice at 12.30am on 18 February.

“It’s so lucky really. If it happened four hours earlier there would be deaths,” Mr Miri said.

“My six-year-old daughter she didn’t speak for two days after, she was so stressed”

The father-of-two said he is yet to find permanent accommodation, being moved from relatives to short-stay Airbnbs before finally finding a suitable private rental property as highways engineers continue to examine the crater for a cause.

“It’s been so stressful. We’ve been told we can return maybe in a year just for us. Maybe other people can go back sooner,” He told The Independent.

“We have very limited access to go back inside to get stuff. We have to call the council and be supervised the whole time.

“When I went back in I heard it crack again and the second hole opened up. I’ve never moved so fast in my life.”

He said his neighbours had been “amazing” in offering sympathy and support to the family. “This is why we moved to Godstone. The landlady we’ve been renting from has given us a big discount too because of our situation. Our plan is to finally settle for a while now,” he said.

Mr Miri also spoke of a lady urging the family to get of the house immediately the night the sinkhole opened, and a stranger blocking the road with their vehicle to prevent cars falling into it, as acts of community kindness.

“But the government are different. They say one thing one day and the next day everything is completely different.

“We have to fight so hard for every single thing. I’ve asked them to make things less stressful – but they make things so difficult.

“They’ve given us just £1,000 for furniture… I don’t think they have ever been to a furniture shop, it’s not enough. They just told my kids to get a second-hand mattress – that is not right.

“I have brand new furniture in my house but I’m not allowed to get it. My kids are suffering because of their mistakes.”

Surrey County Council have been approached for comment.

Tandridge District Council is now leading the clean-up operation trying to bring a semblance of normality back to the village, locals are dubbing “Godshole”.

One council officer told a heated residents’ meeting on Tuesday the crater was growing after “some minor collapses around the edge of the hole”.

Lloyd Allen, who is in charge of the technical team, told displaced locals the collapse could take “up to a year to solve”.

The infrastructure team manager at Surrey County Council said: “We will try and make decisions to get people back into their homes as quickly as we can, but… we can’t let people go back into their homes if we feel there’s a danger.”

Riverdale Developments, the housebuilder behind the homes in William Way – where the sinkhole emerged – said extensive ground investigations were carried out before construction began.

For Mr Miri, he just wants clarity as to when he can return to the new-build home he has lived in since 2022.

“They still have no results for us, everyone’s just blaming each other,” he said. “No one is being human enough to admit they made a mistake. No one can say ‘sorry it’s a 200-year-old road and we forgot to check it.’

Asked if he considered moving from the village, he said: “No, I love it here. I moved from Croydon to raise my family here. Everyone here is smiling and welcoming – we don’t want to leave.”

A Tandridge District Council spokesman said the cause of the sinkhole is still being investigated and the council was meanwhile helping households with temporary accommodation.

“This has included booking accommodation for periods of between three and six months and providing grants of £1,000 to help with the purchase of furniture and essential items,” the spokesperson said, adding the size of the grants was in line with that provided to refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine.

“In this resident’s case, the council provided an increased grant of £2,150 in recognition they are unlikely to be able to return to their property for a longer period of time than other households.”

He said the council was working with Surrey Highways and utility companies to return residents to their homes as quickly as possible.

Discovering something alarming about your kid is a nightmare scenario for parents struggling to monitor things like their friendships or online habits—and for good reason. 

Well, a recent Reddit thread tells the story of one parent’s nightmare come true.

The Discovery that Changed Everything

“My 12-year-old son has been going through some stuff as of late, that has me and his mother concerned,” writes Tri_Guy72 in the Parenting subreddit. “Tonight, when he was in the shower, I found a burner iPhone in his pillow. When I confronted him, I no longer saw or heard my son. It was an entirely different person who absolutely blew up on me. He said really horrible things to me that will forever stick and said that his life was over now.”

After being confronted, OP says his son described the phone as being “his life and the only way he fit in.” He lashed out at his parents, saying he hated them, and even expressed “how he didn’t want to live.”

After chatting separately with his son’s mom, OP says they suspect there is more on the burner phone than just Snapchat, which he isn’t allowed to have either.

How the son was able to pay for the burner phone is a mystery. “He does yard work but hasn’t made anywhere near that much to cover everything,” OP continues.

He’s tried to access the content on the phone but hasn’t been able to open it.

“And yes, we are getting him into counseling asap, but [I] really need to know what else he is hiding,” OP says. “I’m on the kitchen floor, bawling because of what happened tonight and would really appreciate any help. Just really concerned he’s going to potentially harm himself and that [we] ‘lost’ our son at just 12 based on all the things he said to us that we’ve never remotely heard before.”

Why Kids Might Get Burner Phones

“Adolescence is a time of significant exploration and identity formation,” says Dr. Michael Adelman, MD, a child and adolescent psychiatrist with Mindpath Health. “As a part of this time of exploration, there often is a significant amount of impulsivity involved in decision-making. [Adolescents] may often shift their sense of self dramatically, trying on different identities in a constant search for self-exploration.”

Tweens and teens also often want anonymity, especially from their parents. Burner phones offer this and a way to try new identities. However, impulsivity can lead to poor choices.

“Burner phones are easier to find than you may think,” says Alejandra Galindo, LMFT with Thriveworks in Houston. Some ways a teen or tween can gain access to a burner phone include: 

• Step-by-step guide videos on YouTube and other platforms
• Purchasing one themselves at a gas station (sometimes with a fake ID)
• Being gifted one from a predator

Galindo adds signs your child may have a burner phone include:

• Sudden shifts in mood
• Withdrawal 
• Indifference toward the phone you know about
• Sudden dips in data usage on the phone you know about
• Unrecognizable devices connected to your router

Exploitation concerns are also valid

“​This post rang alarm bells for me,” comments one person. “I have worked with children at risk of criminal/labor exploitation for many years, and this scenario is pretty typical for that demographic. Having a hidden burner phone [and] his reaction to it being discovered/confiscated [and] having unexplained sums of money would be significant indicators of potential exploitation for the purposes of criminality (e.g., drug dealing and other associated activity).”

Galindo agrees these concerns are valid, adding, “Large sums of money is absolutely a red flag for exploitation. Children often see money as a means to ‘gain’ things like popularity, devices, and stylish clothes. [Their] instinct isn’t to question where the money is coming from, so when presented with an opportunity to get free money or complete a ‘small task’ for money, they will often take it, not knowing the larger consequences down the road.”

Other red flags, according to Galindo are:

• Skipping school frequently
• Staying out late or overnight
• Unexplained gifts/new possessions
• Secretive behavior, like leaving abruptly to answer a call or text
• Self-harm
• Relationships with older peers/adults parents haven’t met 

How to Handle Finding Your Kid’s Burner Phone

While the situation is emotional and troubling, Dr. Huy and the other professionals we spoke with offer tips for parents, should they find themselves in a similar position. 

Take an emotional step back

“Take a step back and spend enough time for you to have an emotional reaction, which may be the event that a teen might want to avoid the most,” Dr. Huy says.

After some processing time, Dr. Huy says you’ll be better equipped to respond calmly and rationally, which can foster more productive conversations.

Walk, don’t leap into the conversation

Galindo suggests asking open-ended questions and listening first.

“Your child will likely say hurtful things, so do your best to focus on listening to any feelings behind the words,” Galindo says. “This will help keep you a bit calmer and also show your child you are genuinely listening to them.”

Dr. Huy suggests leading with affection: “To promote a safe and honest space, show affection and concern, as opposed to ridicule and punishment. A teen may not see all the pieces involved that a parent is able to see, and they may be just as fearful, especially when met with their own emotional outburst. If the purpose of sneaking around or lying is to protect [themselves] from judgment and harm, address the misconception by offering non-judgement and safety.”

Collaborate

“While this can be difficult to do, make sure to remember that you and your child are on the same team,” Dr. Adelman says. “If you are able to negotiate these difficult experiences collaboratively, it increases both the openness of your child to communicating the truth of what has happened and their investment in working with you to define a solution.”

And that investment will continue paying off down the road: “[Your kids] will confide in you over time as they encounter other difficulties and concerns throughout their growth and development,” Dr. Adelman adds.

Princess Rajwa of Jordan is celebrating her first Mother’s Day, with her husband Crown Prince Hussein sharing heartwarming new photos of their baby daughter, Princess Iman. 

Mother’s Day in Jordan takes place on 21 March, giving the Jordanian royals a chance to delight royal watchers with more intimate family moments.

In the caption, Crown Prince Hussein remarked: “To my beloved mother and my loving wife, your presence fills our lives with joy, and your love is the true meaning of giving. Happy Mother’s Day.” 

One of the striking images captured the little princess playing on the floor alongside her grandmother, Queen Rania, all while her doting dad looked on with pride. 

In a more candid moment, another portrait shows loving mum Princess Rajwa lifting her cheerful tot high into the air. 

Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa welcomed their little girl, Princess Iman – who is named after the Prince’s sister – in August 2024.

Shortly after the birth of their first child, Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa of Jordan told our sister publication HELLO! ARABIA: “We are overjoyed to begin this new chapter in our lives. Our family is growing, and we are excited to welcome our little one into the world.” 

Queen Rania also took to social media to write: “Iman, you’ve already got a hold of my heart. Our family has never been happier.” 

The young princess is the first grandchild of Queen Rania and King Abdullah. Six months later, their daughter Princess Iman gave birth to her first child – Princess Amina – in February.

“My darling Iman is now a mother,” announced Queen Rania. “We’re grateful and overjoyed to meet Amina, our family’s newest blessing. Congratulations Jameel and Iman – may God bless you and your precious little girl.”