The Mahroussa, the royal yacht that once belonged to Ismail Pasha, viceroy of Egypt from 1864 to 1879, has had a full life since it was built nearly 150 years ago. In a few days, this ship will add yet another feat to its remarkable career, when President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and visiting dignitaries will sail in it to inaugurate the new branch of the Suez Canal. Perhaps the most remarkable trip the Mahroussa has experienced in its long service as a royal, naval, and presidential vessel is that which started one late afternoon in 1952. Having abdicated from power, bequeathing the throne to his infant child, Egypt's King Farouk boarded the Mahroussa in Alexandria for the last time on 26 July 1952. I have had the chance to board the Mahroussa several times over the past two decades, admiring the remnants of its past eminence and the faint glory of a discarded dynasty. The navy, which continues to operate the vessel, treats it like a gem, repairing it in foreign docks and preserving its interiors in the monarchical taste of the past. The drinking glasses on board still bear the insignia of King Farouk, with the letter F at its centre. The Mahroussa was built in 1865 by the Samuda Brothers on the River Thames in London to a design resembling that used in the British royal yacht of the time. Measuring 146 metres in length and 42 metres in width and with gross tonnage of 4,561, the Mahroussa can cruise at 13 knots and needs a crew of 160 to man it. In 1869, it was the first ship to sail through the Suez Canal during the inauguration ceremony. In August 2015, it will repeat the same feat during the opening of the new branch of the canal. King Farouk was not the only Egyptian monarch the Mahroussa sailed into exile. It transported Khedive Ismail to exile in Italy in 1879 after the British and French pressured Istanbul to remove him from power. It also took Khedive Abbas Helmi II to Istanbul in 1914, shortly before the British removed him from power and replaced him with his uncle, Sultan Hussein. After the 1952 Revolution, then-President Gamal Abdel-Nasser used to sail in the Mahroussa on special occasions, and President Anwar Al-Sadat sailed on it through the Suez Canal when it was reopened for international navigation on 5 June 1975. Twenty years ago, I had the chance to interview Gharib Al-Husseini, who served in the royal guard of King Farouk during the last four years of his rule. Al-Husseini recalled, in great details, the last trip Farouk took on the Mahroussa. On 26 July 1952, the day on which Farouk was to leave Egypt, the Free Officers who had led the revolution were in open disagreement about the way the situation should be handled. The king, Al-Husseini said, asked to be accompanied by three officers. “I was one and the others were Baha Al-Din Bahi from the royal guard and Mohamed Omar Hassan from the police. “Before we left the Ras Al-Tin Palace in Alexandria the king signalled to me,” Al-Husseini recalled. “I went to him immediately. He said, ‘Al-Husseini, don't abandon me.' I couldn't help it as tears swelled in my eyes. ‘Majesty, I am with you all the way,' I blurted out. The king then asked me for a favour. He didn't want to be photographed leaving the country. “This was a strange request, as there were many reporters and photographers gathered outside. The king sensed that it would be difficult to avoid them. So he said, ‘I have an idea. When you feel that someone wants to photograph me, pull at my jacket and I will fall behind and let you walk in front of me,' frustrating the photographer's intentions.” Before leaving the palace, the king also said to Al-Husseini, “Don't leave me alone. I feel that they want to kill me.” The king had never said anything of the sort in the past, and Al-Husseini guessed that the reason for the king's concern was the large number of artillery pieces that had been deployed near the palace. At 4pm, a guard of honour was assembled. At 5pm, the king, wearing a navy uniform, exited from the palace, and Al-Husseini noticed that he was descending the stairs with difficulty. “I wasn't used to seeing Farouk move this way. He was always full of fun and energy and not given to dragging his feet,” Al-Husseini said. The king inspected the guard of honour then boarded a speedboat to take him to the Mahroussa. “The king mounted the speedboat, and we followed him. A gun salute was fired and the king saluted in return. I succeeded somehow in granting the king his last request, for the cameras were only able to glimpse him from the back, as you may notice from the existing footage,” Al-Husseini recalled. At 5.30 pm, the king and his escort arrived at the Mahroussa. “The king and his family mounted and we followed them.” The Mahroussa's captain, Galal Alluba, saluted the king and the king returned the salute. “Majesty, the army officers will soon be on board to greet you,” Alluba said. The king didn't answer. Minutes later, a speedboat brought some officers to the Mahroussa. The first one up was Mohamed Naguib, who saluted the king and approached him. Then Gamal Salem came aboard. He was dressed in military uniform and was carrying something that looked like a field marshal's baton. Gamal Salem approached the king and saluted him, keeping the baton under his arm. Then he extended a hand to the king. The king didn't move. Then, he shot a furious look at Salem and said, “Drop that thing from your hand.” Salem was shaken, let the baton drop to the ground, shook hands with the king, and then picked it up again. The officers, including Ahmad Shawqi from the Cairo military headquarters, stood around the king for a moment. Then Farouk spoke. “I was hoping to form an Egyptian army that would become the strongest in the region, but circumstances prevented me from following through on my plans. I hope you will succeed where I have failed,” he said. Then, there was silence. Naguib saluted the king again, and everyone left. At 6 pm, the bell of the Mahroussa rang, announcing the start of the trip to Naples in Italy. When the yacht moved, the king retired to his chambers. “I thought at first that the king was in no mood to throw a last glance towards Alexandria. But a few minutes later he returned,” Al-Husseini remembered. Having changed into civilian clothes, the king drew close to Al-Husseini and said, “Come with me, I need you.” The sun was setting as the two men walked on deck. The lights of the city were starting to come on. Suddenly, the king started crying. “It was a sight I have never seen before. I couldn't fight back the tears. I said, ‘This is the will of God, majesty, what God wills shall pass.'” “I saw this coming,” the king said. Suddenly, Farouk added, “Do you think they will kill us?” “How could they?” Al-Husseini asked. “They might sink the Mahroussa with a torpedo,” Farouk replied. “That would be a crime, majesty, and they would not do it. They would be scorned by other nations when they are desperate for international recognition. Also, how could they explain it to the Egyptian people?” Al-Husseini said. Farouk was silent, apparently comforted by the argument. Then he tapped Al-Husseini's shoulder and went down to his cabin. It had been three days since he had had any sleep. Al-Husseini remained on board, watching the sea. Then he was summoned to the king's cabin. “The king asked me to find him a painter and calligrapher,” Al-Husseini recalled. This was perplexing, as the chances of meeting this demand in the middle of the sea were slim. But the request was relayed to the captain, who said he would try to think of something. An hour later, the captain had found among the crew a man from Alexandria who was also a talented painter and calligrapher. The king handed him a piece of paper bearing the name and trademark of a certain type of ammunition. He wanted the man to copy it onto a wooden chest that he pulled out from beneath his bed. “I want the words and the drawing to be copied on this chest,” the king ordered. “And when you finish the first one, I have 11 more chests that I want you to do the same job on.” The man, who turned out to be quite skilful, finished all the chests in a few hours. The king approved of his work, saying “bravo.” No one opened the chests, and no one to this day knows what was in them. Perhaps Queen Nariman knew what was inside them, Al-Husseini guessed. Photographers noted the boxes being transferred into the Mahroussa and some reporters later on speculated that they were cases of alcohol that the king was taking to Italy. Only those close to the king knew this could not be true for a simple reason: the king, contrary to rumours, didn't drink. The king then ordered Al-Husseini to assemble the royal guard officers aboard. “I gathered my colleagues quickly and we went to the king's cabin. When we entered, Farouk looked at us and asked if we had any money.” The question took the officers by surprise. “This was the end of the month. I had three pounds on me. Mohamed Bahi had seven pounds, and Mohamed Omar Hassan had 12 pounds.” “You're all broke or what?” the king asked. He then brought out a yellow envelope that Al-Husseini had seen the director of the Royal Estate hand him before leaving the Ras Al-Tin Palace. Farouk opened the envelope and took out 30,000 pounds. “When we arrive in Italy, I will exchange this money,” he said. The Mahroussa docked in Naples on 28 July 1952. Before leaving his cabin, the king ordered the ship's old bell to be dismantled. It was a silver bell ornamented with gold and had some historic writing on it dating to the time of his grandfather, Ismail Pasha. In Capri, navy officers Mohamed Hamdi Al-Greitli and Fouad Zikri, who were taking part in a race in Italy aboard the royal vessel Fakhr Al-Behar, boarded the ship. They wanted to salute the king before he disembarked from the Mahroussa for the last time.
