Faisal II of Iraq

Faisal II (الملك فيصل الثاني) (2 May 1935 – 14 July 1958) was the last King of Iraq.

He reigned from 4 April 1939 until July 1958, when he was killed during the 14 July Revolution.

This regicide marked the end of the thirty-seven-year-old Hashemite monarchy in Iraq, which then became a republic.

The only son of King Ghazi and Queen Aliya of Iraq, Faisal acceded to the throne at the age of three after his father was killed in a car crash.

A regency was set up under his uncle Prince 'Abd al-Ilah.

In 1941, a pro-Axis coup d'état overthrew the regent.

The British responded by initiating an invasion of Iraq a month later and restored 'Abd al-Ilah to power.

During the Second World War, Faisal was evacuated along with his mother to the United Kingdom.

There, he attended Harrow School alongside his cousin Hussein, the future King of Jordan.

In April 1941, his first cousin once removed 'Abd al-Ilah was briefly deposed as Regent by a military coup d'état which aimed to align Iraq with the Axis powers.

The 1941 coup in Iraq soon led to the Anglo-Iraqi War.

German aid proved insufficient, and the Regent 'Abd al-Ilah was restored to power by a combined Allied force composed of the mercenary Jordanian Arab Legion, the Royal Air Force and other British units.

Iraq resumed its British ties, and at the end of the war joined the United Nations.

During his early years, Faisal was tutored at the royal palace with several other Iraqi boys.

During the Second World War, he lived for a time with his mother at Grove Lodge at Winkfield Row in Berkshire in England.

As a teenager, Faisal attended Harrow School with his second cousin Prince Hussein, later to become King Hussein of Jordan.

The two boys were close friends, and reportedly planned early on to merge their two realms, to counter what they considered to be the "threat" of Communism and left-leaning variants of pan-Arab nationalism.

Recently, 143 drawings drawn by Faisal using either pencil or crayon were put on display at Iraq's National Archives depicting backdrops of the war he lived through.

Such as drawings of aircraft, bombs, killer robots, and extreme fighting on both land and sea but some drawings depict more peaceful subjects, including landscapes, birds, and buildings, as well as maps of Europe and North Africa.

These drawings offered a look into his mind during the chaotic time.

In 1952, at age 17, Faisal began plans to visit the United States and its many development projects such as agriculture, power projects, canal systems, and land reclamation schemes.

It was of particular interest to the King especially the Irrigation projects as Faisal would later tell the New York press that it was “very much needed in our country."

On the 12th of August, 1952, Faisal began the five-week tour and, along with Regent 'Abd al-Ilah, they first arrived at 11 AM, in the Hudson River on the RMS Queen Mary and were given a tour around the United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan.

The next day, Faisal went on a tour of the Empire State Building and after arriving at the City Hall for a reception with Mayor Vincent R. Impellitteri, he famously went to attend a game held in the Ebbets Field.

The visit was covered by many news outlets nationwide that many forgot Faisal's original motives for the visit.

He would also famously be on the side of Brooklyn Dodgers but reportedly couldn't tell the difference between them and the other team, the New York Giants, in which one of his aides told him that it the team's names are written on their clothes.

In the following days, he would tour the Radio City Music Hall and the Esso Oil Company.

The regency ended in May 1953 when Faisal came of age.

The overthrow of the Egyptian monarchy in 1953 and the formation of the United Arab Republic in February 1958 only provided impetuses to ideas of a revolution.

Faisal's father was killed in a mysterious car crash when he was three years old; his father’s first cousin, Prince 'Abd al-Ilah, served as regent until Faisal came of age in 1953.

He also suffered from asthma.

Faisal's childhood coincided with the Second World War, in which the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq was formally allied with the British Empire and the Allies.

Less than a year after his visit to the United States, Faisal attained his majority on 2 May 1953, commencing his active rule with little experience and during a changing Iraqi political and social climate exacerbated by the rapid development of pan-Arab nationalism.

Reportedly, his reign was marked by tolerance and co-existence with other faiths and branches of Islam and projects such as an irrigation project, inspired by the US project.

The Hashemite Arab Federation was formed between Iraq and Jordan in February 1958 with Faisal as its head, which did not quell widespread opposition.

In July 1958, a group of Royal Iraqi Army officers led by Abd al-Karim Qasim mounted a coup d'état and overthrew the monarchy.

Faisal was executed along with numerous members of his family in the process.

Faisal was the only son of King Ghazi of Iraq and his wife, Queen Aliya, second daughter of 'Ali bin Hussein, King of the Hejaz and Grand Sharif of Mecca.

On the 16th of August, both would depart from LaGuardia Airport for Washington, D.C. where he met President Harry Truman.

Over the following weeks, he would meet other famous Americans such as Dean Acheson, the actor James Mason, and Jackie Robinson, among others.