Fuad II of Egypt
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Pictured after his birth in 1952 | |||||
| King of Egypt and the Sudan | |||||
| Reign | 26 July 1952 – 18 June 1953 | ||||
| Predecessor | Farouk I | ||||
| Successor |
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| Regent | Muhammad Abdel Moneim | ||||
| Head of theRoyal House of Egypt | |||||
| Tenure | 18 March 1965 – present | ||||
| Predecessor | Farouk I | ||||
| Heir apparent | Muhammad Ali | ||||
| Born | (1952-01-16)16 January 1952 (age 73) Abdeen Palace,Cairo,Kingdom of Egypt | ||||
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| House | Alawiyya | ||||
| Father | Farouk I | ||||
| Mother | Narriman Sadek | ||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||
| Signature | |||||
| Styles of Ahmed Fuad Farouk | |
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| Reference style | His Majesty |
| Spoken style | Your Majesty |
Fuad II (Arabic:فؤاد الثاني, full name:Ahmed Fuad bin Farouk bin Ahmed Fuad bin Ismail bin Ibrahim bin Muhammad Ali; born 16 January 1952), or alternativelyAhmed Fuad II (Arabic:أحمد فؤاد الثاني), is a member of the EgyptianMuhammad Ali dynasty. As an infant, he formally reigned as the lastKing of Egypt and the Sudan from July 1952 to June 1953, when he wasdeposed.

The son ofKing Farouk and his second wifeQueen Narriman,Crown Prince Ahmed Fuad[a] was born on 16 January 1952 inAbdeen Palace.[citation needed] He was delivered at 8:30 a.m. and named after his grandfatherFuad I.[2] Fuad had three half-sisters from Farouk's previous marriage withQueen Farida: princessesFarial,Fawzia andFadia. As women could not inherit the Egyptian throne, Farouk's first cousin,Prince Mohammed Ali Tewfik, washeir presumptive until Fuad's birth.[2][3] Immediately following his birth, Fuad was granted the title ofPrince of the Sa'id.[4][5] He was styled accordingly as Ahmed Fuad, Prince of the Sa'id.[6]
On 23 July 1952, theFree Officers led byMohamed Naguib andGamal Abdel Nasser started the beginning theEgyptian revolution to dispose the Muhammad Ali non-Egyptian dynasty.[7] On 26 July, Farouk was ordered to abdicate in favour of the crown prince and leave Egypt.[8][9] Farouk abdicated and went intoexile in Italy. His family, including Fuad, joined him in exile.[10] By stepping down, Farouk had wished that the forces opposing the monarchy would be placated, and that Fuad could unify the country during his reign.[1]: 129
On Farouk's abdication, the army proclaimed that Fuad was now King Fuad II of Egypt and the Sudan, at only 6 months of age.[8][b] The country was now ruled by Nasser, Naguib and the other Free Officers.[7] Naguib promised to maintain aconstitutional monarchy with aregency council holding power until Fuadcame of age.[14] Fuad's constitutional powers were assumed by theCabinet until 2 August 1952, when a regency body, but not a council, was established.[15] PrinceMuhammad Abdel Moneim was appointedregent and led the body.[1]: 94 The regency body had no actual powers, however, these having been effectively assumed by theRevolutionary Command Council which was led by Naguib. The body was dissolved on 7 September 1952 and Moneim was appointed the soleprince regent, though he still had no actual powers when serving in this role.[15][1]: 94
The monarchy wasformally abolished on 18 June 1953: Egypt was declared a republic for the first time in its history, and Naguib became its first everPresident. Fuad was officially deposed and stripped of his royal titles.

Following Fuad's deposition,[16][17] Fuad and his half-sisters were sent to live inSwitzerland while Farouk remained in Italy, settling inRome. Queen Narriman returned to Egypt in 1953 after wanting a divorce, and Farouk insisted that Fuad remain abroad.[18][10] In 1958, Fuad was stripped of his Egyptian citizenship.[citation needed]
Farouk would visit Fuad two or three times each year before the former's unexpected death, possibly from a heart attack, in 1965, when Fuad was 13 years old. Fuad believes that Farouk was "poisoned by enemies".[18] When he died, there were rumours in the press that he had been poisoned byEgyptian intelligence, though there is no known evidence to confirm this.[19] After Farouk's death, Fuad was guaranteed protection by PrinceRainier III of Monaco and his wifePrincess Grace.[citation needed] Fuad would later become friends with Rainier in his early adulthood, when he visitedMonte Carlo every summer.[10] He owns aMonégasque passport granted to him by Rainier, on which he is named "His Royal Highness Prince Ahmed Fouad Farouk".[18][20][10]
Growing up, Fuad and his half-sisters lived inCully, a small village onLake Geneva, under the care of ananny,governess andbodyguard. Fuad attended the local public school where he was bullied and then went tomiddle school inLausanne, before later attending theInstitut Le Rosey, an elite and prestigious privateboarding school.[21][10] He completed his secondary education, obtaining aFrench baccalaureate, before studying at theUniversity of Geneva.[21] He graduated with a degree in politics and economics in 1975.[citation needed]
In 1973, PresidentAnwar Sadat lifted Fuad's and his half-sisters' exile.[22] Fuad's Egyptian citizenship was restored in 1974. He has occasionally visited Egypt ever since,[21] with his first visit occurring in 1991.[18] On his Egyptian passport he has no titles and is simply identified as Ahmed Fuad.[18]

Fuad immigrated to Paris after graduating from university.[21] In Paris, he set up a real estate business and marriedDominique-France Loeb-Picard, a Jewish woman ofAlsatian origin, in a civil ceremony in Paris on 16 April 1976.[23] She then converted toSunni Islam,[citation needed] and the two had a religious wedding in Monaco on 5 October 1977.[23] Loeb-Picard changed her name to Fadila Farouk.[24] Egyptian monarchists addressed her as Queen Fadila of Egypt,[23] a nickname coined by the media.[21] She then formally assumed the title ofQueen of Egypt.[1]: 129 In 1996, she and Fuad divorced, and he stripped her of her title.[1]: 129–130
After years of divorce proceedings which began in 1999,[24] the marriage was formally dissolved in 2008.[1]: 129 Fuad found the divorce "deeply painful" and suffered fromdepression and poor health.[18] Since the divorce Fadila has been known as Princess Fadila of Egypt.[citation needed]
Fuad and Fadila had three children before their divorce:Prince Muhammad Ali, Prince of the Sa'id (born 5 February 1979),Princess Fawzia-Latifa (born 12 February 1982) and Prince Fakhruddin (born 25 August 1987).[1]: 130 The family lived together in Paris until the parents' divorce.[citation needed] After the divorce, Fuad wasestranged from his children untilc. 2011.[18] Fuad has four grandchildren.[citation needed]
After his divorce from Fadila, Fuad returned to Switzerland to stay close with his half-sisters.[17]
In May 2010, he recorded a television interview withONTV and talked about his visits to Egypt, how he felt about the Egyptian people, and their view of his late father.
In an October 2013 interview withL'Illustré, Fuad criticized theMuslim Brotherhood, saying that "the Islamists brought the country to ruin in a few months. [...] They devastated the economy, they wanted to suppress women's rights and allow marriage for girls from the age of nine." He also stated that he would support the candidacy ofField MarshalAbdel Fattah el-Sisi as president of Egypt.[20] In September 2014, Sisi granted him a diplomatic passport with the job description of "former king of Egypt".[25]
In 2023,The Economist reported that some Egyptians were clamoring for his return as Egypt's ruler, as frustration with Sisi's rule deepened.[26]
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{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)Even the 71-year-old Ahmed Fouad, the son of the late King Farouk who resides in Switzerland and speaks broken Arabic, is occasionally mentioned.
Fuad II of Egypt Born: 16 January 1952 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
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| Preceded by | King of Egypt and the Sudan 26 July 1952 – 18 June 1953 | Succeeded byasPresident of Egypt |
| Egyptian royalty | ||
| Preceded by | Prince of the Sa'id 16 January 1952 – 26 July 1952 | Vacant Title next held by Muhammad Ali |
| Titles in pretence | ||
| Loss of title Monarchy abolished | — TITULAR — King of Egypt and the Sudan 18 June 1953 – present | Incumbent Heir apparent: Muhammad Ali |