Narriman Sadek

Mena Narriman Sadek (or Nariman Sadiq) (31 October 1934 – 16 February 2005) was the daughter of Husain Fahmi Sadiq Bey, a high-ranking official in the Egyptian government, and his wife Asila Kamil; she was the second wife of King Farouk and the last Queen of Egypt.

Farouk divorced his first wife, Queen Farida, in 1948, after a ten-year marriage in which she had produced three daughters, but no male heir. In a bid to ensure his succession, and also to rekindle some public enthusiasm towards a decaying dynasty, he let it be known that he was in the market for a new bride, preferably an Egyptian, well-heeled but not of the aristocracy.

In her 17th year, Narriman Sadek was betrothed to U.N. diplomat Zaki Hashem. As young couples are wont to do, they visited a number of Cairo jewellery establishments in search of the perfect engagement ring. After they had visited one shop (a particularly well-connected one, it must be assumed) the proprietor contacted the palace to inform the court that he had located a suitable marriage prospect for the king. Machinations were devised whereby the couple were called back to the shop — purportedly to see a very special ring, at a very special price — only to have the King of Egypt emerge from a back room to make their acquaintance.

Sadek's engagement to Hashem was summarily broken off. Her father was given the title of "bey", and she was secreted out of the country, to the residence of the Egyptian ambassador in Rome, where she was taught the duties and demeanour of a future queen. In particular, her diet was closely monitored, in order to comply with Farouk's instructions that she weigh no more than 50 kg on their wedding day.

Farouk and Narriman were married on 6 May 1951 in a sumptuous ceremony with enough ostentatious excess to counteract any popular sentiment the king might have earned by marrying a commoner: for example, her wedding dress was decorated with 20,000 diamonds. The ceremony over, they departed for a four-month honeymoon on the royal yacht.

Narriman fulfilled her queenly duty on 16 January 1952, with the birth of their only son, Ahmed Fouad. Later that year, on 23 July 1952, a coup d'état headed by Gamal Abdel Nasser forced Farouk to abdicate. He stepped down in favour of his infant son, who assumed the throne as King Fuad II. Fuad's largely symbolic reign was cut short, however, with the establishment of a republic the following year.

Following Farouk's abdication, the royal family went into exile (aboard the royal yacht); in March 1953, bored with the itinerant lifestyle and Farouk's philandering, Narriman returned to Egypt with her mother, to her former position as a commoner. She and Farouk divorced on 2 February 1954.

On 3 May 1954 she married Dr. Adham al-Nakib of Alexandria, who had been Farouk's personal physician. They had one son, Akram, and subsequently divorced in 1961.

In 1967 she married Ismail Fahmi, another medical practitioner. She lived in seclusion in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis until her death.