I remember a story from the old days when the late king Hussein, whom used to grow his beard to hide an allergy every now and then, was in a military camp and saw some of the officers unshaven. He called the head of the camp and asked him for an explanation. The answer was that these men are following his lead in this, so they were unable to force them otherwise. The king was very disappointed and made the barber of the camp shave his beard.

Another story is Mr. Ghandour, a Libanese business man that was called by the late king to start up Royal Jordan. That man was known to be close friends with the late king, so he could pass any resolution on the basses (this is what the king told me to do).

It doesn't surprise me that the government encourage this kind of irrational behavior, since attaching the state (supposedly accountable) to HM (who is not) gives them big benefits.