"Once I was a Princess"

by Jacqueline Pascarl Gillespie

a Malaysian Muslim kidnapped two children from an Australian wife after the divorce

"Once I was a Princess" is a book about how a woman's determination to continue to fight for her two kidnapped children's basic human rights saw her redefine her identity and role in society from distraught mother to a humanitarian activist on the world stage.

Jacqueline Pascarl Gillespie who joined us on Saturday's show was racially and sexually abused as a child. Her dysfunctional childhood left her vulnerable to the heady proposition of being swept of her feet by a seemingly gentle and urbane foreign student, Prince Raja Bahrin. They moved to Malaysia where they married and Jacqueline was re-educated and moulded in the disciplines of a princess and an obedient Muslim wife.

Back in his own country it bore no resemblance to the quiet student of their whirlwind courtship and she was treated by her husband as little more than a brood mare and decorative appendage. Forced to suppress her intellect and endure physical brutality, Princess Yasmin, as she was now known, maintained a carefully constructed facade of aristocratic solidarity. In just four years, a fairytale romance begun in the soft Melbourne spring of 1980 had turned into a nightmare of Islamic superstition, isolation, rejection, betrayal and abuse.

The birth of her two children steeled her resolve and determination to raise them far from the rotten atmosphere where she was living. Following the disintegration of her marriage (her husband had bigamously married a night club singer) she returned to Australia with the children and built up a career for herself in TV and radio.

After seven years of freedom her life took another turn in 1992. Her vengeful husband abducted both children in a cloak and dagger operation and managed to flee the country by sailing from Queensland to Indonesia in a tiny motor cruiser. Since then and despite diplomatic lobbying, legal challenges and humble pleas, Jacqueline has been allowed no contact with her kidnapped children, Iddin who is 16 and Shahirah, 14.

Succumbing to grief was never an option for Jacqueline. Instead she focused on providing support for other parents in similar circumstances and is now an acknowledged international expert on parental child abduction. She has emerged from her ordeal a stronger and more independent woman, forging a place for herself with humanitarian aid work in Bosnia and Africa.

The publication of her book "Once I was a Princess" coincides with this month's European conference on parental child abduction organized by the London based charity Reunite.

top

For information or comments, write to Feedback@IslamReview.com