Princess Shivakiar Ibramin, first wife of King Fuad I of Egypt

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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