Whilst still in London and after my Bar examinations, I was posted as First Secretary and later Counsellor (in rank but not in pay!) to our Indian embassy in Cairo, Egypt. Our Ambassador was Mr. A.A.A. Fayzee, a distinguished jurist and authority on Muslim Law. We got on well together and at the end of his term, Mr. Sen, then Ambassador in Rome was posted to Cairo. However, just before his arrival, King Farouk of Egypt declared himself as also the King of the Sudan and wanted Ambassadors’ credentials to be addressed to him in that capacity. Our government needed time to consider the matter and Mr. Sen was never able to take up his post in Cairo. In the event, I became Chargé d’Affaires of the embassy for a long time. During this time and while in Cairo, in May 1951, our son was born.
On the 26th of January 1952, a huge conflagration took place in Cairo. The British and their forces were still in Ismailia, near Port Said and anti-British sentiment was raging. There was a confrontation between British forces and the Egyptian police, in which many of the latter were killed. When that news reached Cairo, the reaction was swift and violent. People took to the streets and set fire to British and foreign interests and to Egyptian buildings also, such as the Opera. The famous Shepherd’s Hotel, once the headquarters of Napolean’s forces, was partly burnt. The day was our Republic Day and we had invited a large number of guests for a reception and bought all the necessary foodstuffs. Very few guests were able to come.
The 26th January is also the National Day of Australia and the Australian Embassy had also invited guests to a reception, but could not get the food that they had ordered because of the fires in the city. Since we had obtained our provisions before the fire started, we had all the food in our Embassy and sent them to our Australian colleague.
King Farouk used to spend the summer in Alexandria and, like courtiers of olden days, many heads of diplomatic mission also moved there. I was in Alexandria when I received a telephone call from my colleague in the embassy to say that a battalion of soldiers had marched through the streets and a coup d’etat had taken place. General Naguib and Major Nasser had ceased power. The King had to board his yacht and sail as an exile to Italy.
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