About King Hamad His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, KCMG (Arabic: حمد بن عيسى آل خليفة‎) (born 28 December 1950, Riffa, Bahrain) is the current King of Bahrain (since 2002), having previously been its Emir (from 1999). He is the son of Isa ibn Salman Al Khalifah, the previous emir. For his secondary schooling, he attended the The Leys School, Cambridge, England. He later attended military colleges in the United Kingdom (including Sandhurst) and the United States (including Fort Leavenworth). Al Khalifah has great interest in preserving heritage and continues to indulge in a number of sports activities and hobbies including falconry, golf, fishing, tennis and football. His keen interest in Arabian horses caused him to establish the Amiri stables in June 1977 which was registered in the World Arabian Horses Organization in September 1978.