Queen Farida
She was Safinaz Hanim Zulfikar and he was HM King Faruk, Head of the Mehmet Ali dynasty. Their glittering wedding, was on 20 January 1938 at the Kubbe sarayi in Cairo.
Eleven years later, and after the birth of her third daughter, sorrow abounded. When it became apparent that HM the King was unable to return the affections of the lonely Farida, she delicately encouraged their divorce which took place on 19 November 1948. From her private Pyramids Villa, her favorite refuge, which later on she could not recapture from its agressors, to Lebanon, Paris and Switzerland, a collection of her paintings and letters revealed her misery.
HM Queen Farida was born at Alexandria, 5 September 1921, daughter of HE Yusuf Zulfikar Paşa and Zeynep Hanim Mehmet Sait. She died at Cairo on 16 October 1988 and was buried at her family's mausoleum in Cairo.
Children
HRH Princess Feriyal, born at Alexandria, 17 November 1938, married Jean-Pierre Perreten. Her Royal Highness now lives in Le Chatel, Bex, in Canton Vaud, Switzerland. HRH Princess Fevziye, born at Alexandria, 7 April 1940. Her Royal Highness remained unmarried and lives at Villa La Crétaz, Chernex, in Canton Vaud, Switzerland. HRH Princess Fadia, born at Abidin sarayi, Cairo, 15 December 1943, died at Pully, Switzerland, 28 December 2002 (buried on 4 January 2003 at Rifaii Royal Mosque, Cairo), married Pierre Orloff at London, 17 February 1965.
HM Queen Farida with their Royal Highnesses her daughters
Like a queen from the fairy tales, HM Queen Farida of Egypt, in tiara and flashing diamonds, Cairo 20 January 1938
HM The Queen was awarded the decoration of the superior class of Kemal-i nişani
