Farouk of Egypt

Farouk I (فاروق الأول Fārūq al-Awwal; 11 February 1920 – 18 March 1965) was the tenth ruler of Egypt from the Muhammad Ali dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and the Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I, in 1936 and reigning until his overthrow in a military coup in 1952.

His full title was "His Majesty Farouk I, by the grace of God, King of Egypt and the Sudan".

As king, Farouk was known for his extravagant playboy lifestyle.

While initially popular, his reputation eroded due to the corruption and incompetence of his government.

He was born as His Sultanic Highness Farouk bin Fuad, Hereditary Prince of Egypt and Sudan, on 11 February 1920 (Jumada al-Awwal 21, 1338 A.H.) at Abdeen Palace, Cairo, the eldest child of Sultan Fuad I (later King Fuad I) and his second wife, Nazli Sabri.

He had Albanian, Circassian, Turkish, French and Greek ancestry.

Despite the Albanian origin of his house, Farouk in common with the other members of Egypt's Ottoman elite had more Circassian blood in him as Mohammad Ali the Great and his successors were fond of their Circassian slave girls, which were one of the most prized possessions of an Ottoman official.

Farouk's first languages were Egyptian Arabic, Turkish and French (the languages of the Egyptian elite), and 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.

Egypt at that time was quite rich, but its wealth was very maldistributed.

The pashas, representing less than .5% of all landowners, owned a third of all cultivated land in the country.

In addition to his sisters, Fawzia, Faiza, Faika and Fathia, he had one half-sister from his father's previous marriage to Princess Shivakiar Khanum Effendi, Princess Fawkia.

Fuad gave all of his children names starting with F after an Indian fortune-teller told him names starting with F would bring him good luck.

King Fuad kept tight control over his only son when he was growing up and Farouk was only allowed to see his mother once every day for an hour.

The prince grew up in the very closeted world of the royal palaces, and he never visited the Great Pyramids at Giza until he became king, despite the fact that only 12 mi separated the Abdeen Palace from the Pyramids.

Farouk had a very spoiled upbringing with the Sudanese servants when meeting him always getting down on their knees to first kiss the ground and then his hand.

Aside from his sisters, Farouk had no friends when growing up as Fuad would not allow any outsiders to meet him.

Fuad, who did not speak Arabic, insisted that the crown prince learn Arabic so he could talk to his subjects.

Farouk became fluent in classical Arabic, the language of the Quran, and he always gave his speeches in classical Arabic.

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 comments like "Excellent. 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 as an adult.

For instance, he liked to free the quail that the game keepers had captured on the grounds of the Montaza Palace, and he once used an air gun to shoot out the windows at the Koubbeh Palace.

When Queen Marie of Romania visited the Koubbeh Palace to see Queen Nazli, Farouk asked her if she wanted to see his two horses; when she answered in the positive, Farouk had the horses brought into the royal harem, which greatly displeased the two queens as the animals defecated all over the floor.

Farouk's Swedish au pair, Gerda Sjöberg, wrote in her diary: "The truth doesn't exist in Egypt. Breaking promises is normal. Farouk is already perfect at this. He loves to lie. But it's amazing Farouk is as good as he, given his mother."

Knowing of his family's genetic predisposition to obesity, King Fuad kept Farouk on a strict diet, warning him that the male descendants of Mohammad Ali the Great tended to get obese very easily.

Farouk's closest friend when growing up and later as an adult was the Italian electrician at the Abdeen Palace, Antonio Pulli, who became one of Egypt's most powerful men during his reign.

An attempt to enroll Farouk at Eton was thwarted when he failed the entrance exams.

Before his father's death, he was educated at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, England.

The Italophile Fuad wanted to have Farouk educated at the Turin Military Academy, but the British High Commissioner Sir Miles Lampson vetoed this choice as growing Italian claims for the entire Mediterranean to be Mare Nostrum ("Our Sea") made it unacceptable for the Crown Prince to be educated in Italy.

In October 1935, Farouk left Egypt to settle at Kenry House in the countryside of Surrey to attend the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich as an extramural student.

Farouk attended classes occasionally at "the Shop", as the academy was known, to prepare himself for the entrance exam.

Farouk stayed at Kenry House and twice a week was driven in a Rolls-Royce to the Royal Military Academy to attend classes, but still failed the entrance exam.

One of Farouk's tutors, General Aziz Ali al-Misri, complained to King Fuad that the principal problem with Farouk as a student was he never studied and expected the answers to be given to him when he wrote his exam.

Instead of studying, Farouk spent his time in London where he went shopping, attended football matches with the Prince of Wales, and visited restaurants and brothels.

Farouk's other tutor, the famous desert explorer, Olympic athlete and poet Ahmed Hassanein reported to King Fuad that Farouk was studying hard, but the inability of the crown prince to pass entrance exams supports General al-Misri's reports.

When King George V died in January 1936, Farouk represented Egypt at his funeral in Westminster Abbey.

He was overthrown in the 1952 coup d'état 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.

His sister, Princess Fawzia bint Fuad, was the first wife and consort of the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.