This past month marks the 60-year anniversary of the July 23 revolution in Egypt that ended the 140-year rule of the Mohammed Ali Dynasty. Coincidentally, the anniversary comes at the same time Egypt ushers in a new era. After toppling Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year monopoly of power, the Egyptians have elected Mohammed Morsi, the first democratically elected president in the country’s history.
On Jan. 26, 1952, Egyptian rioters, spurred on by political extremists from both the left and right, took to the streets of Cairo, burning everything they considered British or foreign-influenced. After that fateful “Black Saturday,” dozens of foreigners, mainly British, lay dead and hundreds of businesses and treasured landmarks, including the Shepherd Hotel in the center of Cairo, were burned to the ground.
Six months later, almost to the day, King Farouk, who was vacationing with his teenage wife Narriman and their newborn son at Alexandria’s Montazah Palace, received the dreaded news that Egypt was no longer his. In the course of three days, the royal family was ordered to abdicate, pack their personal belongings and leave. At 6 p.m. on the evening of July 26, Farouk, his wife, son and three daughters from his previous marriage, were sent sailing into exile on the royal yacht, HMS Mahroussa, by the Free Officers, led by Gama Abd-el-Nasser. The royal family’s departure marked the end of the 140-year rule of the Mohammed Ali Dynasty. Ironically, the Mahroussa was the same boat that took Farouk’s grandfather, Ismail, into exile three-quarters of a century earlier.
It’s hard to imagine what the fallen king was thinking as he watched the sunset and the coast of Africa disappear over the horizon. A few months earlier, everything seemed to be going so well. World War II was over, Britain’s Sir Miles Lampson – the king’s biggest headache – was gone and Farouk had finally produced an heir to the throne. So what went wrong?
By July 1952 Farouk had survived 15 years as the undisputed king of Egypt. With the untimely death of his father, King Ahmed Fuad I, the 17-year-old heir was forced to take the reins of a country he had absolutely no idea how to rule. Up until then, he had been living in the harem with his mother and sisters; and only six months prior to his father’s death he was sent off to attend school in London. Farouk had never participated in government and was hardly ever seen at official functions by his father side. No sooner had the boy-king ascended the throne than the drums of war began to sound throughout Europe and Africa. With Mussolini well-entrenched in Ethiopia and Rommel’s war machine racing across North Africa toward the Suez Canal, Great Britain had to maintain absolute control over Egypt and Sudan. Lampson, the former high commissioner to Egypt, was given the task of keeping an eye on the new king.
From the very beginning, Lampson was like a pin in Farouk’s side. When the threat of war came knocking at Egypt’s door, the pin became a thorn. Lampson’s first worry was the amount of Italian advisers the king had on his payroll. Then there was the presence of pro-German elements among the Egyptian people who saw Germany as a liberator from British colonial rule. In 1942, when Farouk dissolved Hussein Sirry’s government and appointed a new prime minister who was sympathetic to the Axis powers, a livid Lampson sent British troops to surround Abdine Palace. In the end, Farouk backed down and appointed the pro-British Nahas as prime minister and Britain let Farouk keep his throne.
With an end to the war and the transfer of Lampson to the Far East, Farouk looked as if he had everything under control.
Seen as the leader of the Arab World (after the creation of the Arab League in Cairo in 1945), it was only fitting for King Farouk to be at the helm of the Arab war against the newly created Jewish state. Besides, Egypt had the largest standing army (with no fighting experience) in the region and a shared border with Palestine. Yet, in no time, Egypt suffered a humiliating defeat against what many considered a rag-tag Israeli army, using unconventional guerrilla tactics. For Farouk, it would mark a pivotal turning point and the beginning of the end to his rule.
To understand the king’s demise, one must not only look at the political events that shaped Egypt up until 1948, but also how Farouk portrayed himself. Fuad’s, Farouk’s father, most conspicuous disadvantage during his 20-year rule was that he didn’t speak Arabic. All official business was conducted in Italian. He made sure that this would not happen to his only son. From an early age Farouk was given private Arabic lessons. Because he couldn’t communicate with the commoner, Fuad made it a point to be seen by his countrymen. With the advent of the portable camera, Fuad was able to create an image to match his title. He had all of his journeys into the countryside documented and printed in the newspapers to show that he was in touch with his subjects. Numerous photo albums still abound depicting Fuad at one inauguration after another; strolling through temples or conducting business with various European leaders. However, the camera never revealed a personal side of the monarch.
After Fuad’s death, the young heir was able to use the camera to his advantage as well. On his first journey throughout the country, he had an army of photographers in tow documenting his every move. In 1938, Farouk’s picture-postcard wedding to the young beauty, Safinaz Zulficar (later renamed Queen Farida), was more than just a photo op, it was an opportunity for the masses to fall in love with their new royal couple.
After ten years of marriage, which produced three daughters, the royal couple divorced. It was no secret that the two had fallen out of love years before, but the fact that there wasn’t a male heir born must have weighed heavy on their relationship.
In the latter part of their marriage Farouk was seen frequently womanizing at the hottest night spots in Cairo and Alexandria. In Egypt, the king’s gallivanting was put under wraps by the palace press censorship, but abroad, pictures of a fat balding king surrounded by Europe’s social elite were splashed across the world’s tabloid press.
With no wife and no heir to the throne and a humiliating defeat to Israel under his belt, Farouk’s lifestyle seemed to spiral slowly out of control until he met the voluptuous 16-year-old commoner, Narriman Sadek, in late 1949. Once it was announced the couple were to marry, Narriman was sent off to Italy to learn proper etiquette on how to become a queen. When the engagement was announced, the prime minister went on national radio and paid tribute to the king for selecting his wife from the ranks of the common people.
No sooner had they married then she gave birth to a son aptly named Ahmed Fuad II. From the outside, one would think that the king’s worries were over; but unfortunately for him, the honeymoon was short-lived.
From the onset, Farouk refused to relinquish his bachelor ways, and soon his follies at home were beginning to get noticed. The more he surrounded himself with foreigners; the less palace protocol seemed to matter. Cameras were no longer exclusively in the hands of palace photographers and compromising images of him partying and having fun were finding their way to the streets.
While pictures showing a 250-pound Farouk in bathing suit lying next to his teenage wife in an equally revealing suit were nothing shocking for Europe’s elite, they did nothing to help the king’s tarnished images at home. Whispers of his scandalous lifestyle started to filter into the army, which still felt cheated for the loss they sustained in 1948.
Though there were many indications the end was near, Farouk did little of anything to quell or appease the forces conspiring against him. Elements in the military had been working behind his back for some time, but instead of confronting them in July of 1952, he ran off to Alexandria with his young family to escape the heat.
All things considered, Farouk was lucky to get away with his life. In the past, Britain had always been there to keep the house of Mohammed Ali in order. This time, they chose to stay on the sidelines and watch. In a last ditch effort, the king turned to the Americans, whose influence was growing in the region, for help. He was convinced that the new superpower, fearful of a communist takeover, would intervene on his behalf. To the Monarch’s surprise, it was the Americans who gave the final go-ahead for the coup d’état to take place.