Farouk of Egypt

Farouk I was the tenth ruler of Egypt from the Muhammad Ali dynasty. He succeeded his father, Fuad I, in 1936. He was overthrown in the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and forced to abdicate in favour of his infant son, Ahmed Fuad, who succeeded him as Fuad II. He died in exile in Italy in 1965, and was succeeded by his son Ahmed.

About Farouk of Egypt in brief

Summary Farouk of EgyptFarouk I was the tenth ruler of Egypt from the Muhammad Ali dynasty. He succeeded his father, Fuad I, in 1936. He was overthrown in the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and forced to abdicate in favour of his infant son, Ahmed Fuad, who succeeded him as Fuad II. Farouk died in exile in Italy in 1965, and was succeeded by his son Ahmed. His first languages were Turkish and French. He always thought of himself as an Egyptian rather than as an Arab, having no interest in Arab nationalism except as a way of increasing Egypt’s power in the Middle East. He had 30 Albanian bodyguards, as he regarded Albanians as the only people he could trust with his life. His sister was the first wife and consort of the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and he had one half-sister from his father’s previous marriage to Princess Shivakiar Khanum Effendi, Princess Fawkia. His father gave all of his children names starting with F after an Indian fortune-teller told him namesStarting with F would bring him good luck. He never visited the Great Pyramids at Giza until he became king, despite the fact that only 12 miles separated the Abdeen Palace from the Pyramids. He once used an air gun to shoot out the windows at the Koubbeh Palace when the Queen of Romania visited. As a child Farouk showed a facility for languages, learning Arabic, English, French and Italian, which were the only subjects he excelled in.

The more honest of Farouk’s tutors often wrote comments on his childhood essays such as \”Improve your bad handwriting and pay attention to the cleanliness of your notebook\” and \”It is regrettable that you do not know the history of your ancestors\”. The more sycophantic of his tutors wrote like A brilliant future awaits you in the world of literature on an essay that began with the sentence “My father had a lot of ministers and I have a cat” Farouk was known for his love of practical jokes, a trait that continued on an adult for instance he liked to free the quail that the game keepers had captured on the grounds of Montaza Palace. When she visited the Palace, Farouk asked her if she wanted to see his two horses; when she answered in the positive, he brought the horses into the Palace to shoot them out the window. He also had a love of horses, and once brought the Queen Marie of Romania into the palace to shoot the horses out of the windows when she visited. His mother, Nazli Sabri, was a woman with one arm, and his father kept tight control over his only son when he was growing up. He grew up in the very closeted world of the royal palaces and he was only allowed to see her once every day for an hour. His sisters, Fawzia, Faiza, Faika and Fathia, were the first wives of the King of Iran.