Inspirational Queen Rania of Jordan turns 40

The Queen - pictured here performing Umra, a pilgrimage to Mecca – has done incredible work in helping the Arab world dispel prejudices across the globe, and is devoted to her Muslim faith.

As well as setting up a successful YouTube campaign – for which she won a visionary award – to tackle the issue of misrepresentation of Islam around the world, she appeared on the hit Oprah Winfrey show in the US.

"Muslims are required to pray five times a day," she explained. "We fast the Holy Month of Ramadan, which is, I guess, equivalent to Lent in Christianity. We are meant to give to charity. Once in our lifetime, we have to make a pilgrimage to the holy site of Mecca. These are the basic principles and practices of Islam. But more importantly, Islam is about spiritual fulfillment, about morals, about trying to purify your soul. That is something that has to be very much emphasised.”

She told the celebrity host: "I'd really like to commend you for having Islam as the subject of your show. I think this is the right time to reach out and have this open, ongoing dialogue about different religions".