Guests were received (appropriately) in The Versailles Room by a turquoise-draped Queen Noor, who spoke eloquently before a gourmet dinner of her life with the late King Hussein of Jordan, of their mutual dedication to the preservation of their country’s architectural heritage, and of their efforts to bring peace to the Middle East. “We are only the mortal sentinels on the watch for generations to come, the keepers of every faith, embodied in structure, sculpture, painting, and music,” she said. Charmingly self-effacing, the monarch related how children have sometimes expected to meet a tiara-crowned, fairy-tale Queen and have been disappointed to greet a plain-clothed, sparkle-free royal.

The 53-year-old Arab-American, born Lisa Najeeb Halaby, graduated in ’74 in the first co-ed class at Princeton with a degree in architecture and urban planning — excellent training, she has said, for life in a “patriarchal court society.” She met the widowed King Hussein, 15 years her senior, as the Director of Planning and Design Projects for Royal Jordanian Airlines. After a whirlwind courtship, they wed in 1978. The King died of cancer in 1999 at the age of 63, after they had shared 21 years of marriage and raised two sons and two daughters.

Among the ranks: Foundation Prez Florence Van der Kemp and her daughter, Vice Prez Barbara de Portago; event sponsor Gillian Spreckels Fuller; His Royal Highness Prince Michel of Yugoslavia; Her Highness Princess Zarina Zainal of Malaysia; The Earl and Countess of Albemarle; Former Ambassador (of Denmark) John Loeb Jr.; Former Ambassador (of the Dominican Republic) Enriquillo del Rosario and his wife, Audrey; Cynthia and Tony Maltese; Margo Langenberg; Andrew Saffir and Daniel Benedict; Mariana and George Kaufman; Stephanie Krieger and Brian Stewart; Meera Gandhi; Reza Raein; Sheri Babbio; Denise and Larry Wohl; Geoffrey Bradfield; Shahara Ahmad-Llewellyn; Stanley and Elizabeth DeForest Scott; Robert Couturier; and Frederico Wasserman. The guest list for this exquisite evening was both royal and loyal — all helping to preserve these historic “crown jewels.”