Farouk I of Egypt (Arabic: ????? ????? F?r?q al-Awwal) ? (February 11, 1920 – March 18, 1965), was the tenth ruler from the Muhammad Ali Dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I, in 1936. He was considered the first native Egyptian monarch for millenia despite his mixed roots. His sister Fawzia was Queen of Iran for eight years. His full title was "His Majesty Farouk I, by the grace of God, King of Egypt and Sudan, Sovereign of Nubia, of Kordofan, and of Darfur." He was overthrown in the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and was forced to abdicate in favor of his infant son Ahmed Fuad, who succeeded him as King Fuad II. He died in exile in Italy.

Reign

The great-great-grandson of Muhammad Ali Pasha, Farouk was of Albanian descent as well as native Egyptian descent through his mother the Queen. Before his father's death, he was educated at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, England. Upon his coronation, the hugely popular 16-year-old King Farouk made a public radio address to the nation, the first time a sovereign of Egypt had ever spoken directly to his people in such a way:

Farouk was enamored of the glamorous royal lifestyle. Although he already had thousands of acres of land, dozens of palaces, and hundreds of cars, the youthful king would often travel to Europe for grand shopping sprees, earning the ire of many of his subjects.

He was most popular in his early years and the Nobility largely celebrated him. For example, during the accession of the young King Farouk, "the Abaza family had solicited palace authorities to permit the royal train to stop briefly in their village so that the king could partake in refreshments offered in a large, magnificently ornamented tent they had erected in the train station." Al-Ahram Weekly. The above mentioned [[Abaza Family] was at the time and remains the largest noble entity in Egypt. Farouk's accession initially was encouraging for the populace and nobility, due to his young age and Egyptian roots through his mother Nazli Sabri. However, the situation was not the same with some politicians and elected governments, with whom Farouk quarreled a lot despite their loyalty in principle to His Throne.

During the hardships of World War II, criticism was leveled at Farouk for his lavish lifestyle. His decision to keep all the lights burning at his palace in Alexandria, during a time when the city was blacked-out because of German and Italian bombing, was deemed particularly offensive by some. Due to the continuing British occupation of Egypt, many Egyptians, Farouk included, were positively disposed towards Germany and Italy, and despite the presence of British troops, Egypt remained officially neutral until the final year of the war. Consequently, the royal Italian servants of Farouk were not interned, and there is an unconfirmed story that Farouk told British Ambassador Sir Miles Lampson (who had an Italian wife), "I'll get rid of my Italians, when you get rid of yours". Farouk only declared war on the Axis Powers under heavy British pressure in 1945, long after the fighting in Egypt's Western Desert had ceased.

Official marriage photograph of King Farouk, taken in 1938

As he got older, the king began pilfering objects and artifacts while on state visits abroad, including a ceremonial sword from the Shah of Iran and a pocket watch from Winston Churchill.He got a nickname from his own citizens "The Thief of Cairo" to signify his well-known aptitude for thievery, as well as his lavish lifestyle and corrupt regime.

Widely condemned for his corrupt and ineffectual governance, the continued British occupation, and the Egyptian army's failure to prevent the loss of 78% of Palestine to the newly formed State of Israel in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, public discontent against Farouk rose to new levels. Finally, on July 23, 1952, the Free Officers Movement under Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser staged a military coup that launched the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. Farouk was forced to abdicate, and went into exile in Italy and Monaco where he lived the rest of his life. Although it was clear he could have used forces at his disposal to remain in his position, his supporters usually cite this as a commitment on his part to avoid the spilling of blood with the army. Immediately following his abdication, Farouk's baby son, Ahmed Fuad was proclaimed King Fuad II, for all intents and purposes Egypt was now governed by the Naguib, Nasser and Free Officers. On June 18, 1953, the revolutionary government formally abolished the monarchy, ending 150 years of the Muhammad Ali dynasty's rule, and Egypt was declared a republic

The revolutionary government quickly moved to auction off the king's vast collection of trinkets and treasures Among the more famous of his possessions was one of the rare 1933 Double Eagle coins, though the coin disappeared before it could be returned to the United States.

The blue-eyed Farouk was thin early in his reign, but later gained enormous weight. His taste for fine cuisine made him dangerously obese, weighing nearly 300 pounds (136 kg) – an acquaintance described him as "a stomach with a head" He died in Ile de France restaurant in Rome, Italy on March 3, 1965. He collapsed and died at the dinner table following a characteristically heavy meal. While some say he was poisoned, no official autopsy was made for his body. His will stated that his burial place be Egypt, in the Al Rifa'i Mosque in Cairo, but the request was denied by the newly formed Egyptian government and he was set to be buried in Italy King Faisal of Saudi Arabia stated that they would be willing to bury King Farouk in Saudi Arabia, upon which the President Nasser declared it was ok for the kings body to be buried in Egypt, but not in Mosque of Al Rifai' rather the Ibrahim Pasha Burial Site

Affairs and marriages

In addition to an affair with the English writer and siren Barbara Skelton, among numerous others, the king was married twice, with a claim of a third marriage (see below). His first wife was Safinaz Zulficar (1921–1988), a pasha's daughter who was renamed Farida upon her marriage; they married in 1938, divorced in 1948, and had three daughters.

His second wife was a commoner, Narriman Sadek (1934–2005); they married in 1951 and divorced in 1954; they had one son, the future King Fuad II.

Whilst in exile in Italy he met Irma Capece Minutolo, an opera singer, who became his companion. In 2005, she claimed that she had married the king in 1957.http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/734/sc3.htm

Portrayals

In 2007, Arabic satellite channel MBC produced a television series on the life of Farouk entitled 'El Malek Farouk', with Syrian actor Taym Hassan playing the lead role.

Marriages

King Farouk I, Queen Farida and their first-born daughter Farial ca. 1940

Farida

(Safinaz Zulficar) (1921-1988)

Children

• Farial (1938-)
• Fawzia (1940-2005)
• Fadia (1943-2002)

Narriman Sadek

(1934-2005)

Children

• Fuad II (1952-)

Quotes about King Farouk

• "But this Farouk, the one I came to know, was not the overweight, dissipated monarch who became the subject of so many Western satirists and cartoonists. He was still a handsome man, lean and tall, patriotic and idealistic, with clear blue eyes that sparkled when he spoke." —Princess Ashraf Pahlavi, Faces in a Mirror: Memoirs from Exile, 1980 (p. 57).

• In Celebrity Trivia by Edward Lucaire (1981), Red Skelton is quoted, according to reporter James Bacon, as having said to the Queen Mother of Egypt, "Queenie, do you know your son is 'farouking' Egypt?"

• Farouk was mentioned in a verse of Noel Coward's new 1950s lyrics for Cole Porter's 1928 song "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love": "Monkeys whenever you look do it / Aly Khan and King Farouk do it / Let's do it, let's fall in love."

• In the "Pal o' Mine" episode of The Honeymooners (1955), after Ralph Kramden puts on a ring that is too small and cannot get it off his finger, Ed Norton says to Alice Kramden, "He put that little ring on his finger? That's like King Farouk trying get into Gary Cooper's bathing suit."

See also

• Muhammad Ali Dynasty
• List of monarchs of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty
• Egyptian Revolution of 1952

Endnotes

• 1 -- The Battle of Alamein: Turning Point, World War II by Bierman and Smith (2002)

References

• Ashraf Pahlavi "Faces in a Mirror", Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1980
• McLeave, Hugh The Last Pharaoh : Farouk of Egypt, New York : McCall Pub. Co., 1970, 1969 ISBN 0841500207.
• New King, Old Trouble, Time Magazine, Monday, May 11, 1936.
• Sadat, Jehan "A Woman of Egypt", New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987 ISBN 0671540713
• Stadiem, William Too Rich: The High Life and Tragic Death of King Farouk, New York: Carroll & Graf Pub, 1991 ISBN 0881846295

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