Being queen is overrated.

I don't know if I'd put labels on myself, but I do feel that when women are empowered, they have the power to transform society.

Extremism is not endemic in my region, nor is anti-Western sentiment. No doubt there is discontent and distrust. That is towards more the American and some Western policies, and not toward the American people.

I've learned to take things a little more easily, to be a little more forgiving of myself.

The hardest [part] is some of the misperceptions that are leveled against me as a person and against Muslim women.

Maybe clothes are a form of creative expression for me. An outlet. Because I don't get to express myself creatively through my official duties.

My role models are people who can do things; I say to myself, "I wish I could do that." Like women who endure hardships and turn their luck around and bring up children on their own and start a business. Or a social worker who leaves his country, his comfort, his friends, and goes far away to help people he doesn't know. I want to evolve into that, ultimately. I want to be that person who could sacrifice everything for others.