Fuad II of Egypt

Fuad II (فؤاد الثاني, full name: Ahmed Fuad bin Farouk bin Ahmed Fuad bin Ismail bin Ibrahim bin Muhammad Ali; born 16 January 1952), or alternatively Ahmed Fuad II, is a member of the Egyptian Muhammad Ali dynasty.

As an infant, he formally reigned as the last King of Egypt and the Sudan from July 1952 to June 1953, when he was deposed.

The son of King Farouk and his second wife Queen Narriman, Crown Prince Ahmed Fuad was born on 16 January 1952 in Abdeen Palace.

He was delivered at 8:30a.m. and named after his grandfather Fuad I.

Fuad had three half-sisters from Farouk's previous marriage with Queen Farida: princesses Farial, Fawzia and Fadia.

As women could not inherit the Egyptian throne Farouk's first cousin, Prince Mohammed Ali Tewfik, was heir presumptive until Fuad's birth.

Immediately following his birth, Fuad was granted the title of Prince of the Sa'id.

He was styled accordingly as Ahmed Fuad, Prince of the Sa'id.

On 23 July 1952, the Free Officers led by Mohamed Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser orchestrated a military coup, thus beginning the Egyptian revolution.

On 26 July, Farouk was ordered to abdicate in favour of the crown prince and leave Egypt.

Farouk abdicated and went into exile in Italy.

His family, including Fuad, joined him in exile.

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.

On Farouk's abdication, the army proclaimed that Fuad was now King Fuad II of Egypt and the Sudan.

The country was now ruled by Nasser, Naguib and the other Free Officers.

Naguib promised to maintain a constitutional monarchy with a regency council holding power until Fuad came of age.

Fuad's constitutional powers were assumed by the Cabinet until 2 August 1952, when a regency body, but not a council, was established.

Prince Muhammad Abdel Moneim was appointed regent and led the body.

The regency body had no actual powers, however, these having been effectively assumed by the Revolutionary Command Council which was led by Naguib.

The body was dissolved on 7 September 1952 and Moneim was appointed the sole prince regent, though he still had no actual powers when serving in this role.

The monarchy was formally abolished on 18 June 1953: Egypt was declared a republic for the first time in its history, and Naguib became its first ever President.

Fuad was officially deposed and stripped of his royal titles.

Following Fuad's deposition, Fuad and his half-sisters were sent to live in Switzerland while Farouk remained in Italy, settling in Rome.

Queen Narriman returned to Egypt in 1953 after wanting a divorce, and Farouk insisted that Fuad remain abroad.

In 1958, Fuad was stripped of his Egyptian citizenship.

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".

When he died, there were rumours in the press that he had been poisoned by Egyptian intelligence, though there is no known evidence to confirm this.

After Farouk's death, Fuad was guaranteed protection by Prince Rainier III of Monaco and his wife Princess Grace.

Fuad would later become friends with Rainier in his early adulthood, when he visited Monte Carlo every summer.

He has a Monégasque passport, on which he is named His Royal Highness Prince Ahmed Fouad Farouk.

Growing up, Fuad and his half-sisters lived in Cully, a small village on Lake Geneva, under the care of a nanny, governess and bodyguard.

Fuad attended the local public school where he was bullied and then went to middle school in Lausanne, before later attending the Institut Le Rosey, an elite and prestigious private boarding school.

He completed his secondary education, obtaining a French baccalaureate, before studying at the University of Geneva.

In 1973, President Anwar Sadat lifted Fuad's and his half-sisters' exile.

Fuad's Egyptian citizenship was restored in 1974.

He graduated with a degree in politics and economics in 1975.

He has occasionally visited Egypt ever since, with his first visit occurring in 1991.

During Hosni Mubarak's presidency, Fuad would notify the president of his arrival, who would then guarantee his personal safety during his visit.

On his Egyptian passport he has no titles and is simply identified as Ahmed Fuad with job description "previous king of Egypt".