Weekend Historical Video: King Farouq of Egypt

Your weekend historical video this week is a bunch of footage of King Farouq of Egypt. There's neither audio narrative (just music) nor subtitles so language isn't an issue. The background music is classical, but you won't lose anything without sound. (If it's Aida, the usual monarchical era classical music, it doesn't include the Grand March, which is the only thing I can recognize.) Whoever posted this to YouTube is obviously an Egyptian monarchist, since he calls it "King Farouk the Greatest," but he's welcome to his opinion. It's not widely shared. The Egyptian Royalty group on Facebook has just under 10,000 followers, but given Egypt's population of 80 million plus, that's hardly a groundswell. And a lot off those aren't in Egypt. That, plus the fact that the pretender (if he bothers, which he doesn't seem to), Prince Muhammad ‘Ali, Prince of the Sa‘id, has had to cope with rumors he has Israeli citizenship (apparently untrue, though his mother, who had converted to Islam to marry Fuad, reverted to her native Judaism). Anyway it's unlikely that monarchy is coming back, except in the Syrian/ North Korean model of a hereditary republic, if the Mubarak dynasty occurs.

The video includes shots from early in the reign of Farouq, the young King who actually spoke Arabic instead of Turkish and was genuinely popular at first, through his post-deposition exile. Most of the post-exile clip is a slide show of stills. You'll see two weddings (Farida first and Nariman second). You'll also see him sailing away from Egypt with his infant son in his arms. That infant was Egypt's last king, Ahmad Fuad II, who "reigned" theoretically from exile until the monarchy was abolished a year after the coup.

Note, as you watch these videos, Farouq's increasing chubbiness and, eventually, obesity. I'm not one to talk, since I wouldn't want you looking at comparable shots of my aging process, since I chubbed up too. But there's also a Picture of Dorian Gray aspect to it all: the King became more dissolute as he became fatter. Watch the video, and scroll down since I have one further comment.



Now my final note: that baby in the King's arms as he sailed into exile is still alive, about 58 now, and just about a year ago (a year yesterday in fact), when Farouq's last daughter Princess Ferial died, I blogged ahout Egypt's last King's appearance at her funeral, and ran this picture:

I doubt if by now you need to be told that the chap second from left is (deposed) King Ahmad Fuad II of Egypt. The overprint letters are from al-Yom al-7, who took the pictures. He's also the infant in those 1952 videos. The Royal Family is actually allowed to come and go in Egypt if they like, though they don't seem comfortable there.

But I was struck by how much Fuad II, who appeared handsome in youthful photos, now has become his father. Look at the videos of his father in the clip above, or at his father's Time cover:

The resemblance is not only unmistakable, but I suspect Ahmad Fuad (who gives his interviews in French, not Arabic, and has lived in Switzerland most of his life) is cultivating the look. Unless round eyeglasses are more popular in Switzerland than here.

Egypt is having a curious resurgence of interest in the monarchy, which I've blogged about before, perhaps because of the apparent dynastic intentions of the regime, but no great groundswell calling for the return of the dynasty.