DEATH OF HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF EGYPT. (Hansard, 4 May 1936)

§ The PRIME MINISTER (Mr. Baldwin)
I beg to move: That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty to convey to His Majesty the expression of the deep regret with which this House has learned the news of the death of the King of Egypt and to pray His Majesty that he will be graciously pleased to express to King Farouk the profound sympathy of this House with His Majesty, Her Majesty Queen Nazli and the Royal Family, and with the Government and people of Egypt. I am sure the country will have learned with deep regret of the death last Thursday of His Majesty King Fuad of Egypt who ascended the throne as Sultan in 1917 and assumed the title of King on the declaration of his country's independence in 1922. King Fuad's reign, opened under the shadow of the Great War, has been one of great importance in the age-long history of Egypt, and has witnessed notable achievements in both the political and economic development of his country. For more than half a century His Majesty's Government have stood in a special relationship to the Egyptian people and their Ruler. During the late King's reign they received many proofs of his patriotism, his statesmanship, his friendliness and of his realisation that the co-operation of Great Britain and Egypt was to the mutual interest of them both. We hope that this friendship between the two peoples will in the future become even more close. The tasks which confront King Farouk on his accession to the Throne are necessarily onerous, and their burden is not lessened by the weight of personal sorrow which the death of his father has brought upon him, but I am sure that I speak for this House and for the country as a whole when I offer to His Majesty and the Queen Mother and other members of the Royal Family the most sincere sympathy and good wishes for their future.

§ Mr. ATTLEE
In associating hon. Members on this side of the House with the Motion which the Prime Minister has moved, there is very little need for me to add anything to what he has said. We join in the expression of sympathy with the family of the late King and especially 1362 with his successor, who is called upon at such an early age to take up so very heavy a charge in times of great anxiety. We trust that his task may be lightened by a satisfactory settlement of all the questions which in any way may hinder the fullest co-operation and friendship between the peoples of Egypt and Great Britain.

§ Sir ARCHIBALD SINCLAIR
I rise to associate hon. Members on these benches with the eloquent tributes which have been paid by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition to the memory of King Fuad. At a time when political and economic forces were working constitutional and dynastic changes of deep and permanent significance in Turkey, Persia, Arabia and Afghanistan, King Fuad succeeded, not merely in maintaining, but in strengthening the position of the monarchy in Egypt, where these forces were also deeply stirring public opinion. Undeniable as were his achievements in statecraft, they will not obscure the lustre which he added to the traditions of his House by his services to literature, to scholarship, to exploration and to science. It will be remembered of him in history that he used the power and influence of his great position to quicken the intellectual renaissance of Egypt. Nor shall we in this country forget the leadership he gave to the workers in the Egyptian Red Crescent during the War, nor the generous services which were rendered by them to our sick and wounded. It is, therefore, with sincere regard for the achievements of his late Majesty in many and varied fields that we offer to King Farouk, the Queen Mother, and the Royal Family our profound sympathy in their bereavement, and that we seek to share the grief of the Egyptian people, with whose destinies our own are so closely linked, and with whom we are united by indissoluble ties of mutual friendship and respect.