Marcus Simaika. Samir Simaika

of his nephew Khedive Abbas Hilmi II, who had succeeded his father Tewfik Pasha in 1892, from the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, the prince arranged for a special train to convey the members of the Legislative Council and the General Assembly to Suez to welcome the sovereign upon his arrival. This was all paid out of his private purse and included meals and refreshments. A liberal and completely free of fanatism, he also contributed in January 1908 from his private purse the sum of LE30 to the subscription for the Coptic Museum, followed by a sum of LE500 in 1914 for the establishment of a library there.

      When his nephew Khedive Abbas Hilmi II was exiled in 1914, having shown sympathy to the Central Powers at the onset of the First World War, Prince Hussein Kamel was offered the throne but twice refused, afraid of being regarded as the choice of the British Agency. After the outbreak of the war in 1914, the British government decided that Egypt would either be named a protectorate or be annexed as part of the British Empire.

      The prince was informed that Egypt would be annexed if he persisted in refusing the throne. This message was conveyed to him in November 1914 by Sir Ronald Storrs,²⁸ the oriental secretary, and Sir Milne Cheetham, the counselor to the agency, acting for Lord Kitchener. Due to this ultimatum, the prince accepted, but suggested that Egypt be made a kingdom. This was refused as his suzerain was a king, the British monarch. A compromise was reached: Egypt was named a sultanate and the prince became Sultan of Egypt and Sudan. The title of sultan was first adopted by Salah al-Din (Saladin) in 1174. The decision to annex Egypt to the British Empire was made on November 13, 1914, but as a result of Prince Hussein Kamel’s acceptance of the throne, Egypt was named a protectorate on November 19, 1914.

      On the sultan’s death in 1917, his only surviving son, Prince Kamal al-Din (1874–1932), was offered the sultanate, but he refused, under the pretext of preferring to focus on his love of desert exploration. It is rumored that the main reason for his refusal of the sultanate was the influence of his wife, Princess Nimet Allah, daughter of Khedive Tewfik, who refused to recognize the legitimacy of her brother the khedive Abbas Hilmi II’s dethronement by the British occupying power in 1914.