In a display case in Iraq’s National Archives, a set of drawings on yellowish paper offers a window into the mind of the country’s last monarch, King Faisal II.
For decades the 143 pictures have been kept in the archives, with only a handful accessible to researchers and visitors curious about Iraq’s so-called boy-king, who ascended the throne at the age of three.
The National was given the chance to film the collection and the royal family archive for the first time.
The pictures shine a light on a tumultuous period in Iraq’s modern history, including the life – and gruesome death – of the king.
Born in 1935, Faisal II became the youngest reigning monarch in the world when he took the throne as an infant after the mysterious death of his father King Ghazi in a car accident in April 1939.
For nearly 20 years, the young king ruled Iraq through a period of extreme turmoil, including the Second World War.
But the king’s life was cut short when he was shot dead on July 14 1958 in a coup staged by a group of army officers to establish the first Iraqi Republic.
The drawings reveal that King Faisal’s early life was dominated by the backdrop of war during the 1940s.
Most of the drawings, in pencil or crayon, depict fierce battles in open fields, at sea and in cities.
One shows an aircraft dropping bombs on a cannon, with two soldiers responding with anti-aircraft fire.
The fighting in Iraq seems to have captured the young king’s imagination.
The abandoned Surrey estate once home to an Iraqi king – in pictures
In 1941, British forces invaded Iraq to oust the pro-Axis government, which had toppled King Faisal II’s uncle, Regent Abd Al Ilah.
In one image drawn by the king as a child, fires blaze from the windows of a two-storey building as three tanks with British flags pass by.
The subject of the drawings was the result of the period the king lived through, Director of the Iraqi National Library and Archives Alaa Abu Al Hassan Al Alak told The National.
“There was the Second World War and the presence of the British troops at the country’s airports and bases,” Mr Al Alak said.
But some drawings depict more peaceful subjects, including landscapes, birds, buildings, as well as maps of Europe and North Africa.
During the war, the king went to Britain to live with his mother in Grove House, Berkshire, before returning to Baghdad to continue his education at the Royal Palace.
When he was a teenager, he studied at Harrow School in England with his second cousin and close friend, the future King Hussein of Jordan.
King Faisal II’s unusual upbringing in Iraq and Britain gave him a unique perspective on life, Mr Al Alak said.
“He lived his life as a king and a boy at the same time and that enabled him to think differently,” he said.
The royal family archive includes photographs, letters, films and maps for the Kingdom and the Rihab Palace that survived the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. During the invasion and subsequent unrest, 40 per cent of the archives assets were destroyed or stolen, Mr Al Alak said.
As the world’s youngest royal ruler, Faisal II was famous in his lifetime.
Belgian cartoonist Herge based one of the characters in The Adventures of Tintin on Faisal II - the spoilt and mischievous Prince Abdullah of Khemed.
The fall of the pro-Axis government created a power vacuum, paving the way for the notorious Farhud, or pogrom, against the country’s Jewish community.
Hundreds of Jews were killed and their properties either looted or destroyed, marking the start of their emigration from the country.
By the time of King Faisal II’s 18th birthday in 1953, when the regency ended, the rise of Communism, popular unrest and pan-Arab nationalism had begun to threaten the region’s monarchies.
The overthrow of the pro-British Egyptian monarchy a year earlier had already undermined Faisal II’s claim to power.
The inexperienced king relied heavily on the advice of Crown Prince Abd Al Ilah and Prime Minister Al Said, both seen as closely allied with Britain.
Before dawn on July 14, 1958, army officers who opposed the monarchy, led by Brigadier Abdul-Karim Qassim and Colonel Abdul-Salam Arif, marched on Baghdad and attacked the Royal Palace.
"I heard an explosion at around 6-6.30 am and I jumped out of bed," King Faisal II's aunt, Princess Badiya bint Ali - the last surviving Iraqi princess - recalled in a 2012 interview with Al Sharqiya television. She died last year in London at the age of 100.
“I had a look at the Rihab Palace and saw smoke coming out of it,” she said.
King Faisal II, she said, offered to send guards to protect her but she refused.
Once inside the Palace, the officers ordered the king, his uncle and other family members into the garden, where they were all executed.
King Faisal II, then 23 years old, had planned to marry his fiancee Princess Fadila Ibrahim Sultan the next day.
She recalled how a member of the royal household rushed to her residence a few hours later, covered in blood and cried: “They killed them, they killed the king and his family.”
“I started crying and screaming,” she said. “When the kids’ English nanny asked me what was wrong, I said: They have killed my family.”
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
The specs
Price, base / as tested Dh960,000
Engine 3.9L twin-turbo V8
Transmission Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic
Power 661hp @8,000rpm
Torque 760Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.4L / 100k
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre, six-cylinder
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 395bhp
Torque: 420Nm
Price: from Dh321,200
On sale: now
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
The specs: 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk
Price, base: Dh399,999
Engine: Supercharged 6.2-litre V8
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 707hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 875Nm @ 4,800rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 16.8L / 100km (estimate)
Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
match info
Maratha Arabians 138-2
C Lynn 91*, A Lyth 20, B Laughlin 1-15
Team Abu Dhabi 114-3
L Wright 40*, L Malinga 0-13, M McClenaghan 1-17
Maratha Arabians won by 24 runs
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
WITHIN%20SAND
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The 12 breakaway clubs
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
