King Farouk and the promotion of stamp collecting
There is no doubt that His Majesty King Farouk I's interest in collecting stamps contributed directly to spreading the hobby in Egypt, and he had several stances, one of which I will mention that may not be known to many.
Most of us are well aware of the details of the royal visit that took place in early 1946 when he visited King Abdul Aziz The Saudi monarch visited Egyptian lands and received a warm welcome from the Egyptian court and King Farouk in particular. However, this visit was merely a response to a previous visit made by King Farouk in 1945, during which the Egyptian king boarded his private yacht, “Pride of the Seas,” to visit the holy lands and, of course, met the Saudi king himself.
King Farouk and Saudi stamps
During the visit, King Farouk inquired about the state of the Saudi postal service. As a gesture of respect to his guest, King Abdulaziz ordered that he be presented with sets of Saudi stamps. Among the gifts were three cards bearing Saudi stamps, which were affixed to Stationery envelopes bearing the "Pride of the Seas" seals and stamped with the seals of Saudi cities. Upon his return to Egypt, His Majesty the King ordered that the three cards be gifted to the Egyptian Philatelic Society. The following is a translation of the official gift letter:
“Cairo, February 7, 1945
From the office of His Majesty the King – European Section in Cairo;
Mr. President,
Sending to Your Excellency, by order of His Majesty the Great King, are 3 cards for the royal yacht “Pride of the Seas”, stamped with seals from the Hijaz and stamped by the post offices of Madinah and Yanbu, during His Majesty’s recent visit to the Hijaz region.
”Based on His Majesty’s orders, we are sending these cards to your society in appreciation from His Majesty for the services that your esteemed organization provides to philatelists in Egypt.”
It is worth noting that one of the stamps on the cards contains a date error, which is January 36, 1945. This may have been an unintentional mistake, as the Saudi postal employees at that time were not highly efficient, or the error may have been suggested by the Egyptian king, who was fond of rare mistakes. But in that case, why didn't he keep it to himself? God knows!
In any case, I hope that these three commemorative items are still in the possession of the Egyptian Philatelic Society to this day.
For more similar topics, you can browse the Arab collector's website. the Link the next:
King Farouk's World Coin Collection
