Nazli Sabri

Nazli Sabri

Sultana Nazli's coronation as Queen Nazli
Sultana of Egypt[1]
Tenure 26 May 1919 – 15 March 1922
Queen consort of Egypt
Tenure 15 March 1922 – 28 April 1936
Born (1894-06-25)25 June 1894
Alexandria, Khedivate of Egypt
Died 29 May 1978(1978-05-29) (aged 83)
Los Angeles, California, United States
Burial Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California, United States
Spouse Khalil Sabri
(m. 1918; div. 1918)
Fuad I of Egypt
(m. 1919; d. 1936)
Issue Farouk I
Princess Fawzia
Princess Faiza
Princess Faika
Princess Fathia
Full name
Nazli Abdurrahim Sabri
House House of Muhammad Ali (by marriage)
Father Abdul Rahman Sabri Pasha
Mother Tawfika Sharif
Religion Christian (Catholicism)
prev. Sunni Islam

Nazli Sabri (Arabic: نزلي صبري / نازلى صبرى‎‎; Turkish: Nazlı Sabri; 25 June 1894 – 29 May 1978) was Queen of Egypt from 1919 to 1936 as the second wife of King Fuad.

Early life

Nazli was born on 25 June 1894.[2] Her father was Abdur Rahim Sabri Pasha,[3] minister of agriculture and governor of Cairo, and her mother was Tawfika Khanum Sharif. Nazli had a brother, Sherif Sabri Pasha, and a sister.[3]

She was the maternal granddaughter of Major General Muhammad Sharif Pasha, prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, who was of Turkish origin.[4] She was also a great-granddaughter of the French-born officer Suleiman Pasha.[5]

Nazli first went to the Lycée de la Mère-de-Dieu in Cairo, and later to the Collège Notre-Dame de Sion in Alexandria. Following the death of her mother, she and her sister were sent to a boardingschool in Paris, France, for two years. After returning, Nazli married an Egyptian aristocrat, but soon she divorced.[6] Then she had an affair with Saeed Zaghloul, nephew of nationalist leader Saad Zaghloul.[6] She was almost engaged to him.[6] However, both men left Egypt following the 1919 revolution.[6]

Marriage to Fuad

The Sultan of Egypt, Fuad I first saw Nazli at an opera performance.[6] On 12 May 1919, Fuad proposed to her, although he was 25 years her senior. On 24 May 1919 Nazli married Sultan Fuad I at Bustan Palace, Cairo. It was the second marriage for both Nazli and Fuad.[6] She later moved to the haramlek in the Abbasiya Palace. She was under pressure from her husband to produce a son, and was warned that she would confined to the haremlek if she did not do so. After the birth of their only son, Farouk, she was allowed to move into Koubbeh Palace with her husband. When Fuad's title was altered to King, she was given the title of Queen. She then had four daughters: Fawzia, Faiza, Faika, and Fathiya.

Restricted to the palace throughout most of Fuad's reign, she was permitted to attend opera performances, flower shows, and other ladies-only cultural events. As her upbringing had left her remarkably educated, cultured and emancipated for an Egyptian woman of the time, she found this prescribed existence backward and stifling.[7] It was said that whenever the royal couple fought, she was slapped by the king and confined to her suite for weeks. It was also alleged that she tried to commit suicide by overdosing on aspirin.

Nazli accompanied the king during part of his four-month tour of Europe in 1927, and was much fêted in France because of her French ancestry. With the inauguration of Parliament in 1924, she was among the royal attendees at the opening ceremony, seated in a special section of the guest gallery.

Later years

Following the death of King Fuad in 1936, her son Farouk became the new King of Egypt, and she became the Queen Mother. Her brother Sherif Sabri Pasha served on the three-member Regency Council that was formed during Farouk's minority. In 1946, Nazli left Egypt and went to the United States for treatment for a kidney ailment.

In August 1950, King Farouk deprived the Queen Mother, and her daughter Princess Fathia of their rights and titles. This was due to latter's marriage, which Nazli supported, but was against Farouk's wishes, to Riyad Ghali Effendi, a Coptic Christian.

In 1955 Nazli purchased, for $63,000, a 28 room mansion in Beverley Hills, were she lived with Fathia, her son-in-law, and their two children, and lead an active social life.[8] She also converted to Christianity, changing her name to Mary-Elizabeth.[9]

In 1965, Nazli attended the funeral of Farouk, in Rome.[6]

Following Fathia's divorce, Nazli moved to a small apartment in Westwood, Los Angeles, where Fathia eventually joined her after temporarily moving to Hawaii.[10][11]

To meet debt demands, in 1975 Nazli sent her principal jewellery to auction at Sothebys, including a magnificent art deco tiara (720 diamonds weighing 274 carats) and matching necklace commissioned in 1938 from Van Cleef & Arpels.[12] They sold for $127,500 and $140,000 respectively. However, Nazli and Fathia still ended up in bankruptcy court. In 1978, Fathia's jewellery was also sold to meet debts.[13]

In 1976, Nazli sent a request to the then President of Egypt, Anwar Sadat, that passports be provided to her and Princess Fathia to give them right of return to Egypt. Eventually she settled in the US, due to her painful illness. She died on 29 May 1978 in Los Angeles, California.[14]

Legacy

In 2008, Rawia Rashed published a book about Queen Nazli, titled Nazli, Malika Fi El Manfa (Nazli, A Queen in Exile).[6] Based on this book, an Egyptian TV series provided an account for the life of Queen Nazli, Queen in Exile, starring Egyptian actress Nadia Al Jundi in 2010.[15]

Queen Nazli's art deco necklace reappeared at a Sotheby's sale in December 2015.

Titles and styles

Royal styles of
Queen Nazli of Egypt
Reference style Her Majesty
Spoken style Your Majesty
Alternative style Hanem

Honours

National dynastic honour

Foreign honour

References

  1. 1 2 Rizk, Yunan Labib (13–19 April 2006). "A palace wedding". Al-Ahram Weekly (790). Retrieved 27 February 2010. ... Britain granted the rulers among the family the title of sultan, a naming that was also applied to their wives.
  2. ↑ Samir Raafat (March 2005). "Women whose husbands ruled the realm" (PDF). Egyptian Europe Organization. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  3. 1 2 Hassan Hassan (1 January 2000). In the House of Muhammad Ali: A Family Album, 1805-1952. American Univ in Cairo Press. p. 46. ISBN 978-977-424-554-1. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  4. ↑ Goldschmidt, Arthur (2000). Biographical dictionary of modern Egypt. Lynne Rienner Publishers. p. 191. ISBN 1-55587-229-8.
  5. ↑ "Weekend Nostalgia". The Middle East Journal. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Ahmed Maged (6 February 2008). "Revealing book on Queen Nazli depicts her tragic life in exile". Daily News Egypt. Cairo. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  7. ↑ "Revealing book on Queen Nazli depicts her tragic life in exile". Daily News Egypt. 2008-02-05. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  8. ↑ Snapshots of Hollywood Collected at Random The Milwaukee Sentinel, 18 April 1955
  9. ↑ "Revealing book on Queen Nazli depicts her tragic life in exile". Daily News Egypt. 2008-02-05. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  10. ↑ Goodkind, Mike "Ex-princess loses last of fortune", The Free Lance Star, 21 September 1976
  11. ↑ "Revealing book on Queen Nazli depicts her tragic life in exile". Daily News Egypt. 2008-02-05. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  12. ↑ Former Queen Selling Jewels, Spokane Daily Chronicle, 28 October 1975
  13. ↑ Goodkind, Mike "Ex-princess loses last of fortune", The Free Lance Star, 21 September 1976
  14. ↑ "Nazli". A Bit of History. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  15. ↑ "Nadia Al Jundi fails". Albawaba. 4 September 2010. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  16. ↑ الملك فؤاد الأول أول أمير مصري يتزوج من الشعب وعلى منواله نسج الملك فاروق الأول [King Fuad I, the First Egyptian Prince to Marry a Commoner, and King Farouk I Follows in His Footsteps] (Reprint). Al Sabah (in Arabic): 29. 20 January 1938. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
  17. ↑ "King Farouk Strips Queen Nazli of Title". Daily Record. Ellensburg, WA. 41 (29): 4. 8 August 1950. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  18. ↑ The Muhammad 'Ali Dynasty Royal Ark
  19. ↑ The Arabian Royals Agency,,. "The Arabian Royals Agency,,". The Arabian Royals Agency,,.
  20. ↑ http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WPufOtqJ8xs/T6dPj02cMYI/AAAAAAAANsM/4Ew6Hc7HWVo/s1600/ThreeConsortsEgypt.jpg
  21. ↑ http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xdd1F7dCcl0/T6dOughnxFI/AAAAAAAANrU/xTsGuOqlpxI/s1600/Farouk_%2526_Farida_Marriage%252C.jpg
  22. ↑ https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/ModernEgypt%2C_Wedding_of_Mohammad_Reza_Pahlavi_%26_Fawzia%2C_DHP13655-20-5_01.jpg

Bibliography

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nazli Sabri.
Egyptian royalty
Vacant
Title last held by
Melek Tourhan		 Sultana of Egypt
1919–1922 		Became Queen
New title
Kingdom of Egypt established
 Queen consort of Egypt
1922–1936 		Vacant
Title next held by
Farida
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