| Neslişah Sultan | |||||
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| Born | (1921-02-04)4 February 1921 Nişantaşı Palace,Nişantaşı,Istanbul,Ottoman Empire | ||||
| Died | 2 April 2012(2012-04-02) (aged 91) Ortaköy,Istanbul,Turkey | ||||
| Burial | Aşiyan Asri Cemetery, Turkey | ||||
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| House | Ottoman (by birth) Alawiyya (by marriage) | ||||
| Father | Şehzade Ömer Faruk | ||||
| Mother | Sabiha Sultan | ||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam | ||||
Fatma Neslişah Sultan, alsoBüyük Neslişah, after 1957Neslişah Osmanoğlu (Ottoman Turkish:نسل شاہ سلطان,lit. 'lineage of theshah'; 4 February 1921 – 2 April 2012) was anOttoman princess, the paternal granddaughter of the last OttomanCaliphAbdulmejid II and his first wife,Şehsuvar Hanım; and maternal granddaughter of the lastOttoman SultanMehmed VI and his first wife,Nazikeda Kadın. She was the daughter ofŞehzade Ömer Faruk and his first wife and cousinSabiha Sultan.
Neslişah Sultan was born on 2 February 1921[1] in her family's residence, the Sabiha Sultan Mansion, in theNişantaşı neighbourhood ofIstanbul.[2] Her father wasŞehzade Ömer Faruk, the only son of CaliphAbdulmejid II andŞehsuvar Hanım. Her mother was Sabiha Sultan, youngest daughter of SultanMehmed VI andNazikeda Kadın. She had two younger sisters,Hanzade Sultan, andNecla Sultan.[3] Her birth was the final entry inscribed in the palace register ofdynasty members, making her the last imperial member of the Ottoman family. Shortly after her birth, she was nicknamed Büyük Neslişah, or Neslişah "the elder", to distinguish her from the slightly younger cousinSafvet Neslişah Sultan, called Küçük Neslişah (Neslişah "the younger").[4]
At the exile of the imperial family in March 1924, Neslişah and her family settled inNice,France, where she spent her childhood and adolescence, and received her education. Her grandfather, Abdulmejid, used to take her and her sister Neslişah to seashore during special occasions. The family relocated to Egypt[1] in 1938 due to the outbreak of theSecond World War, where she received a proposal from Egyptian prince Hassan Toussoun, and despite protests, she was engaged to him.[5] However, later she broke off the engagement.[6]
In 1940,Prince Muhammad Abdel Moneim, son of Egypt's lastKhediveAbbas Hilmi II, proposed to Neslişah. Neslişah rejected the proposal, but accepted it following pressure from her father, despite her younger sister Hanzade, who later married another Egyptian prince a week before her sister, having volunteered to marry Moneim in her stead, an offer her father refused.[7] The marriage took place on 26 September 1940 inel-Orouba Palace, Cairo,[8] and she was given the titleSahibat-al Sumuw Al-Amira Neslishah (Her Highness Princess Neslishah).[9] Two years earlier, Abdel Moneim, heir to aUS$50,000,000 fortune, had obtained permission from his second cousin KingFarouk of Egypt to marry PrincessMyzejen Zogu (1909–1969), sister of KingZog I of Albania.[10] However, the marriage never took place and Prince Abdel Moneim married Neslişah instead. On 16 October 1941, she gave birth toPrince Abbas Hilmi. He was followed three years later by Princess Ikbal, born on 22 December 1944.[3]
When the EgyptianFree Officers Movement deposed King Farouk in theJuly 1952 Revolution, they chose Prince Abdel Moneim to serve as chairman of the three-memberRegency Body established to assume the powers of Farouk's newly enthroned infant sonFuad II. The Regency Body was dissolved on 7 September 1952, and Abdel Moneim was appointed as solePrince regent.[11] In the absence of aQueen consort, Neslişahde facto served as such by virtue of her position as the wife of the Prince regent. Her few official appearances during her husband's regency focused on charity work. Like the royal consorts who preceded her, she attended sporting events such as polo matches and the international tennis tournament final.[12]
Around 1943, Neslişah's father, Ömer Faruk, developed an increased interest in his cousinMihrişah Sultan, the daughter ofŞehzade Yusuf Izzeddin. The turbulence of the relationship between Faruk and her wife Sabiha was also a public knowledge.[13] She and her sisters sided with their mother. Faruk accused Sabiha of turning their daughters against him.Murat Bardakçı opines that he had already fallen in love with Mihrişah and the issue of the council[clarification needed] was merely an excuse.[14] In 1948, after twenty-eight years of marriage, Faruk divorced Sabiha, and married Mihrişah,[15] after which Sabiha moved to live near her. Neslişah never came to accept her father's second wife.[16]
Prince Abdel Moneim's regency lasted ten months. TheEgyptian Revolutionary Command Council formally abolished the monarchy on 18 June 1953. In 1957, Abdel Moneim and Neslişah were arrested. Again forced into exile, Neslişah was released from prison after thePresident of the Republic of Turkey intervened and demanded her release. She subsequently lived for a short time in Europe, then returned to her native Turkey. In 1963, she reclaimed Turkish citizenship,[17] and took the surname Osmanoğlu, which had been assigned to members of the Ottoman former imperial family.[18] Prince Abdel Moneim died in 1979 inIstanbul, where Princess Neslişah continued to live with her unmarried daughter Ikbal.[12]
Neslişah died of heart attack on 2 April 2012 at her home in Ortaköy, attended by her daughter.[18][19][20][17] At the time of her death, Neslişah was the most senior Ottoman princess.[21] After the deaths of Şehzade Burhaneddin Cem, son ofŞehzade Ibrahim Tevfik, in 2008 and PrinceErtuğrul Osman in 2009, she was also the last surviving member of theOttoman dynasty to have been born during the Ottoman era.[22][20] A funeral service was held for her inYıldız Hamidiye Mosque.[23] She was buried inAşiyan Asri Cemetery,[24] next to her mother and sisters.[17] PresidentAbdullah Gül presented a message of condolence to family members.[20] Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdoğan praised the late princess. "She was the poster-child for nobleness who carried the blood of Osman," he said in Parliament, referring toOsman I, the Anatolian ruler who established the Ottoman Empire. "We remember her with high regard and our blessings."[18]
By her marriage, Neslişah Sultan had a son and a daughter:[25]
Neslişah was fluent in French, English, German and Arabic and was also an avid skier, swimmer and equestrian. She was also interested in history, literature, geography, botany and the culture of cuisine. She was also highly respected by a number of significant conductors in the music world.[17]
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