Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Princess Neslisah Sultan (1921-2012)


I do not generally consider the Ottoman Empire (1299-1923) to have been among history's finest examples of monarchy, but am nevertheless sorry to learn of the death of the last member of the imperial family to have been born before the fall of the Empire. Princess Neslisah, as the wife (from 1940) of Prince Abdel Monem of Egypt (1899-1979; Regent 1952-53 for the infant King Fuad II), was also involved in the final years of the Egyptian monarchy and thus held the dubious distinction of having been exiled by two different anti-monarchist revolutions. The Turkish Prime Minister was gracious enough to praise the princess, last of the Ottomans, as "the poster-child for nobleness who carried the blood of Osman. We remember her with high regard and our blessings."

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