It could have been different if the British had deposed him, as they considered doing five times, and exiled him to Canada where he could have fulfilled his great love – winter sports. They had deposed two previous Egyptian rulers and it was probably poor judgment by the UK ambassador, Lampson, not to bite the bullet a third time. Still the Foreign Office always regarded Lampson as a third rater – but he still got a Barony mainly because his wife was a society hostess – albeit her father was a high Italian Fascist.
Farouk’s uncle Prince Mohamed Aly Tewfik was often considered the replacement. He headed the regency council during Farouk’s minority (a minority he never grew out of) and was intelligent, discreet, not anti-democratic and neither a drunk not a womanizer. Alas his time never came.
His palace on Manial Island in Cairo is an example of fine mind, an interest in books and plants and superb understated aesthetics – which have been missing in Egypt since 1952. Mubarak wanted to turn it into a 5 star hotel in the late 1990’s, but even the Cairo elite rebelled on this and Mubarak had to back-track.
It’s tells you a bit about modern Egyptian western tourists that few go to see it – but that’s great if you like a quiet empty museum. Here are some photographs:
There are occasional evening musical concerts there but I think you’ve got to be on the ‘inside’ to be given even the opportunity of being invited to buy a ticket. Maybe the many expatriate friends on this forum of former Luxor governor Farag, now the arts czar of Egypt, could make personal contact with him and help other members of this forum get tickets. For those who love plants the garden contains an international collection personally assembled by the prince with an emphasis on cacti and related species.
Some background: http://www.egy.com/landmarks/97-11-27.2.php
Its on the eastern side of Manial Island towards the northern end.
The Supreme Antiques own it and their current website says, untruthfully, that its been closed for years for renovations and expected to ‘re-open in 2010’. They give no current opening hours for it. http://www.sca-egypt.org/eng/MUS_Manial-Palace.htm. They don’t seem very interested in getting tourists to visit it – maybe because the rabble will conflict with the ‘closed’ high society activities and their website contains almost no information on it that would attract anyone.
On the other hand Trip Advisor recent reviews say it is open and are very, very positive about it - although the guides are bad and the place not well maintained by the Supreme Antiques. Maybe the renovation was never done – maybe it was but along ‘usual lines’.
The Supreme Antiques claim they desperately need money – but do little to actually get it. They don’t update their website every 7 years and seem uninterested in attracting people to some of their sites. Its simple – the overwhelming portion of their income comes from admission ticket revenues, therefore, get the admissions up if you want more money in a bad time when tourism is down. Its been bad for 6 years so you think they would have learnt.
If you are in the area the 19th century Al Manasterely/Manasterly/ Palace is located 2k’s south of the above at the southern tip of the island. Parts of it were demolished after 1952.
It appears closed to the public and ‘fully occupied’ by the International Music Centre whose last activities were 4 years ago. They are still in full occupation but what they actually do is a mystery. They probably do nothing. http://www.manasterly.com/?q=node/3. Previously they used its grand halls, maintained presumably by the taxpayer, to host very infrequent ‘select’ gatherings to hear third rate performers of (mainly) western classical music. It is not impossible that some tour guides can get you into its splendid gardens if its fence is low enough and you are fit enough.
Here is a photo of the main hall:
And some general information: http://www.egy.com/landmarks/02-04-01.php
If you are on the inside everything is open. For example a reception on a grand scale hosted by Jehan Sadat was held at Manasterely to launch her fourth rate book and entertain 500 “prominent members of Cairo’s cultural community”. In 2017 the underwhelming Science of Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technologies conference used the Manial for its meetings and held a dinner at the closed Manasterely for its not very important local and international partipants. http://www.saemt.com/venues.html. Who is actually responsible for Manasterely is not clear – but it doesn’t seem to lack access to influence or very occasional and select fourth rate events and people.
A similar story could also be told about other historic building, many of which are ‘owned’ by the Supreme Antiques. The public is not encouraged to attend and many are falling down and were falling down even when there was lots of money around during the tourist boom prior to 2011. I guess when they are decrepit its easy PR to justify flogging them to the private sector for nothing. They are particularly vulnerable to ‘developers’ because well sited on prime real estate. Here is one in Alex, Princess Aziza Fahmy's palace, currently closed and run down but lusted after by property developers:
Its in a prime location from a property development/bulldozer point of view:
A superb article on the palace in the always excellent and local Egyptian Chronicles which is devoted to the preservation of Egypt's 19th and early 20th century culture - something the Antiques have ignored and Farag has buldozed: https://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com ... iders.html
What is the betting the developers will get what they want? It is difficult to believe but some Egyptian media say there is a current court order on this palace REQUIRING it be demolished. http://www.cairoscene.com/Buzz/King-Far ... n-Facebook which must make it a developers dream.
The Princess also had a palace on Zamalek. The Sate seized this and just finished ‘10 years of renovations’ (a very long project – maybe even longer than building the Aswan dam) and claims it is now open to the public. I think that means only if you get an invitation to an up-market evening classical music performance:
Obviously tax money is not short for some projects in a poor country if it suits the needs of a small number of people – meanwhile taxes from ordinary Egyptians fund properties that provide venues for the entertainment of the well off (who avoid tax and move their money to Panama).
The 19th century Egyptian aristocrats may have been rotters, but not all of them, but their buildings are a stark contrast to the new Egyptian buildings since 1952. Style, good taste and good architecture seems to be now missing. Wonder why?
