by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2025

Nazli Sabri was the second wife of King Fuad I of Egypt, and the first Queen Consort of the Kingdom of Egypt. She was later stripped of her royal titles, and after converting to Catholicism, became Mary-Elizabeth Sabri.

source: Wikipedia

Nazli Sabri was born on June 25, 1894 in Alexandria, Egypt, one of five children of Abdel Rahim Sabri Pasha and Tawfika Sharif Hanim. She was educated at the Lycée de la Esclave-de-Dieu in Cairo and the Collège Notre-Dame de Sion in Alexandria before attending a boarding school in Paris. After returning to Egypt, she was forced to marry her first cousin, Khalil Sabri, but the marriage ended in divorce less than a year later.

Fuad I, c. 1910. source: Wikipedia

Nazli first met Sultan Fuad I (later King Fuad I) at the opera and he soon proposed. They married on May 24, 1919 at the Bustan Palace in Cairo. The couple had five children:

King Farouk (1920) – married (1) Safinaz Zulficar, 3 daughters: (2) Narriman Sadek, 1 son
Princess Fawzia (1921) – married (1) Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, 1 daughter; (2) Ismail Chirine, 2 children
Princess Faiza (1923) – married Bulent Rauf, no issue
Princess Faika (1926) – married Fuad Sadek, 4 children
Princess Fathia (1930) – married Riyad Ghali, 3 children

Her activities as Queen were heavily restricted, only permitted to attend events such as the opera, and women-only events. This was very frustrating to Nazli, as she had lived a very different lifestyle prior to her marriage. However, she was one of the most popular members of the Egyptian royal family, both within Egypt as well as throughout Europe.

Queen Nazli with her son, King Farouk, and her four daughters c:1938. source: Wikipedia

In 1936, King Fuad died and was succeeded by the young Farouk, overseen by a Regency Council which included Nazli’s brother, Sherif. Ten years later, suffering from some health issues, Queen Nazli traveled to the United States to undergo medical treatment. Following surgery, she decided to settle in California, along with her youngest daughters, Faika and Fathia.

Queen Nazli (center) at the wedding of her daughter, Fawzia, to the Crown Prince of Iran, 1939. source: Wikipedia

In 1950, Princess Fathia married Riyad Ghali, an advisor to the Royal Family, and a Coptic Christian. Despite his conversion to Islam, the new King did not approve or give his consent to the marriage. Because Nazli supported her daughter, King Farouk stripped Nazli and Fathia of their royal titles and styles, as well as confiscating their properties in Egypt and banning them from ever returning. Queen Nazli later converted to Catholicism, and changed her name to Mary-Elizabeth Sabri.

For many years, she lived in a large mansion in Beverly Hills, California, with Fathia and her family. However, Fathia’s husband squandered much of their fortune, and the couple divorced. Relatively impoverished – at least by Royal standards – she was forced to auction off many of her jewels in order to survive.

Mary-Elizabeth Sabri – the former Queen Nazli of Egypt – died in Los Angeles on May 29, 1978. She is buried at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

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by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2025

Shivakiar Ibrahim was the first wife of Prince Ahmed Fuad, who later became King Fuad I of Egypt. She was considered to be one of the richest women in Egypt.

Source: Wikipedia. By Retrieverlove – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35582656

Princess Shivakiar was born October 25, 1876 in Üsküdar, Istanbul in the Ottoman Empire, the only daughter of Prince Ibrahim Fahmi Pasha and his first wife, Nevjiwan Hanim.

On May 31, 1895 she married Prince Ahmed Fuad (later King Fuad I of Egypt) at the Abbasiya Palace in Cairo. The couple were first cousins once removed (her father was his first cousin). They had two children:

• Prince Ismail Fuad (1896) – died in infancy
• Princess Fawkia (1897) – married twice, one son

Shivakiar and her first husband, Prince Ahmed Fuad (later King Fuad I). source: Wikipedia By Retrieverlove – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35582655

The couple divorced in 1898, following a dispute between Shivakiar’s brother and her husband, which had involved her brother shooting Fuad in the throat. Fuad survived, but the marriage did not.

Shivakiar went on to marry four more times and have several more children:

• Marriage #2 – Raouf Thabet Bey – married 1900, divorced 1903, no issue
• Marriage #3 – Seyfullah Yousri Pasha – married 1904, divorced 1916, two children
• Marriage #4 – Selim Khalil Bey – married 1917, divorced 1925, one son
• Marriage #5 – Ilhami Hüseyin Pasha – married 1927, no issue

Despite her divorce from Prince Ahmed Fuad, she retained her title of Princess, as well as her position at court, and remained close to the Egyptian royal family. She was very involved in philanthropy, serving as president of the Muhammad Ali Benevolent Society, and the Mar’al-Guedida (‘New Woman’), an organization that provided training and education for young women.

By Retrieverlove – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35583240

Princess Shivakiar died at the Kasr al-Aali Palace in Cairo on February 17, 1947. Her tomb, in the Hosh al-Basha mausoleum in Cairo, is designed as a large unmade bed, as per her specific wishes.

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This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2025

Ahmed Fuad was Sultan of Egypt from 1917 until 1922, when Egypt gained its independence from the United Kingdom. He became King Fuad I of Egypt on March 15, 1922 and reigned until his death in April 1936. His full title was King of Egypt and Sovereign of Nubia, the Sudan, Kordofan and Darfur.

source: Wikipedia

Ahmed Fuad was born on March 26, 1868 at the Giza Palace in Cairo, Egypt, the fifth of fifteen children of Isma’il Pasha, Khedive of Egypt and Sudan. His mother was Ferial Qadin, one of Isma’il’s 16 wives.

Ahmed Fuad spent his early years in Egypt until his father was deposed in 1879, and replaced by Isma’il’s eldest son, Tewfik Pasha. At that point, Ahmed Fuad accompanied his father into exile, settling near Naples. He later attended the military academy in Turin.

Prince Ahmed Fuad and his first wife, Shivakiar Ibrahim. source: Wikipedia
By Retrieverlove – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35582655

On May 31, 1895 at the Abbasiya Palace in Cairo, Ahmed Fuad married his first wife, Princess Shivakiar Ibrahim. She was his first cousin once removed. Before divorcing in 1898, the couple had two children:

• Prince Ismail Fuad (1896) – died in infancy
• Princess Fawkia (1897) – married twice, one son

Fuad was instrumental in establishing the Egyptian University (now Cairo University), and served as rector from 1908 until 1913. That same year, Fuad tried – unsuccessfully – to be named monarch of Albania, which had recently gained its independence from the Ottoman Empire. He then focused his attention on the Egyptian Geographic Society, serving as president from 1915 until 1918.

By 1914, the Khedivate of Egypt had separated from the Ottoman Empire, and became the Sultanate of Egypt – a protectorate of the United Kingdom – under the rule of Ahmed Fuad’s second older brother, Hussein Kamel. Hussein Kamel died on October 9, 1917, and Ahmed Fuad succeeded him as Sultan of Egypt, taking the name Fuad I.

Nazli Sabri c. 1925. source: Wikipedia

On May 24, 1919, Fuad married his second wife, Nazli Sabri, at the Bustan Palace in Cairo. The couple had five children:

• King Farouk I (1920) – married (1) Safinaz Zulficar, 3 daughters: (2) Narriman Sadek, 1 son
• Princess Fawzia (1921) – married (1) Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, 1 daughter; (2) Ismail Chirine, 2 children
• Princess Faiza (1923) – married Bulent Rauf, no issue
• Princess Faika (1926) – married Fuad Sadek, 4 children
• Princess Fathia (1930) – married Riyad Ghali, 3 children

After the Egyptian Revolution of 1919, Egypt gained its independence from the United Kingdom, which recognized Egypt as a sovereign state on February 28, 1922. Just two weeks later, Fuad declared himself King of Egypt. He reigned until his death in 1936.

Tomb of King Fuad I. source: Wikipedia By Ahmad Badr, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10279848

King Fuad I died on April 28, 1936 at the Koubbeh Palace in Cairo. He is buried at the Al Rifa’i Mosque in Cairo.

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This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.