MRS SUZANNE Mubarak on Saturday inaugurated the Royal Jewellery Museum in Princess Fatema Palace in Alexandria. The museum, the restoration work of which took three years, contains around 1,000 valuable pieces of the belongings of the Mohamed Ali family. Accompanied by Culture Minister Farouk Hosni and Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Zahi Hawass, Mrs Mubarak toured the museum which has 13 halls where unique pieces of art are displayed. The items include two diamond crowns of Queen Farida, a collection of the princesses' jewellery, a 15kg gold cup which belonged to King Farouk and other precious items. On the same day, Mrs Mubarak also attended a ceremony organised by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina marking the donation of a collection of 500,000 books by the National French Library. "The precious gift given by the National French Library will help strengthen the joint historical ties between Egypt and France," Mrs Mubarak said, expressing her deep thanks to the French library, the French government and the people of France for the present "which reflects the deep friendship between the two countries."
