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There is little hope that other Egyptian parties could do any better than the Wafd. The Saadists, the country's No. 2 party, a group that broke away from the Wafd in 1938 because it was disgusted with Wafdist corruption, is itself little better today.
All thinking Egyptians and Western diplomats agree that Egypt desperately needs a leader who can give it a thorough house cleaning. The only man who could fill the role, if he chose to, is King Farouk himself. Says one of Britain's old Egypt hands: "If Farouk were to emerge tomorrow as an active, constructive champion of genuine social democracy, the Egyptian people's discontent would vanish overnight."
In its own way, the Moslem Brotherhood has paid him an even stronger compliment. Examining a sheaf of notes taken by a Brotherhood member apparently during an indoctrination session, a U.S. newsman found the following passage: "Brotherhood made bad mistake in deciding not to kill Farouk in 1948 . . . he is strongest man in Egypt . . ."
Mother with Crystal Ball. In 1936, in a bleak stone villa in London's suburban Kingston Hill, Farouk, a tall, trim boy of 16, got a long-distance call from Cairo. It was his mother, Queen Nazli. "My son," she sobbed, "you are King."
Egypt's shrewd, greedy King Fuad had just died after a 19-year reign. Only six months before, the young prince had arrived in Britian to get a thorough training at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, plus a few lessons in manners and the craft of kingship. The moment he returned to Cairo, he was plumped into an atmosphere of intrigue and luxury. He was surrounded largely by sycophants who catered to his whims and seldom dared contradict him. He inherited a private fortune of $50 million, an annual Civil List income of $400,000, four fabulous palaces, huge estates, yachts. Queen Mother Nazli was a devotee of crystal balls, card reading, the scrutiny of tea leaves, and the augural dissection of pigeons. (She now lives in Beverly Hills where she is reported to be feeling right at home.) Last year, when she sanctioned the marriage of her daughter, Princess Fathia, to an Egyptian commoner, Farouk stripped Nazli and Fathia of their rich Egyptian properties.
Two years after he came home, Farouk, nearly 18, married Farida, 16, a childhood playmate, daughter of an eminent Alexandria judge. She was a beautiful, bright girl, and they loved each other. Six years later, the marriage was on the rocks. The story heard most often is that Farida left her husband because he was running around with other women, but his friends say she had her share of the blame. But in one respect, she had been a disappointment to the King: she bore him three daughters but no male heir.
As a young King, Farouk was popular. Under the influence of his Oxford-educated tutor, Farouk toured hospitals during epidemics, and during wartime air raids he visited the bombed areas, helped clear away the rubble. Farouk went to the houses of the poor. He was well-meaning but naive; one day, eating with a poor family, he was moved to say: "I hope you will some day be able to eat as good food as I do."