One of the Sad Kings

Many exiled monarchs has scattered around in Europe and the U.S, for example, the son of late Shah of Iran in U.S., King Constantine II of Greece in London (the King fled his country in 1967), King Michael of Romania , and King Fouad of Egypt in Switzerland.

Those unfortunate kings all have their share of sad stories; they don’t have the same glorious life as their ancestors did. Have they done something wrong? Not really, this is what we have called ‘the fate”. Let us first glance over what has happened to the King of Egypt – Ahmed Fuad II.

Ahmed Fuad II, the last king of Egypt, was born on January 16, 1952. In July 1952, the young Fuad boarded the royal yacht with his parents and three half sisters as they fled the country during Egyptian Revolution. He ascended the throne on the boat while he was in the arms of his nanny. He reigned for less than a year until June 18, 1953. King Fuad II was Egypt and Sudan's last monarch and the last of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty, which had ruled since 1805. His short reign ended when Egypt was declared a republic on June 18, 1953.

Fuad’s mother, Queen Narriman, divorced with Farouk and returned to Egypt in 1953. Farouk then settled in Italy, and placed his children in a small Swiss village with aides – an English nanny, a French governess and an Albanian bodyguard- to look after them. Fuad only saw his father a few times a year. He attended a public school in the village, studying with children of vineyard workers. While no one at home ever talked about him being the king, other kids at school would tease him. Later, Fuad was sent to Le Rosey, an elite Swiss boarding school.

In 1965, Farouk died suddenly in Rome. Fuad was 13 and shattered. As a young adult, Fuad spent winter in Gstaad and summers in Monte Carlo, where Prince Rainier of Monaco befriended him. As he grew older, he wrestled with a broken marriage, a lack of steady work and bouts of depression. He was divorced two decades ago and had three children from the marriage.

Fuad is sensitive to charges that his father walked away with massive treasures. Fuad says he receives financial help from Middle Eastern royals and remains especially grateful to the Saudis. His half sisters were all working women. One was an interpreter; another helped her husband run a hotel, a third worked as a translator. He says he has a job as a consultant and has had trouble to paying the mortgage.

In recent years, Fuad lived in a small flat in s middle-class apartment complex outside of Geneva. He grew profoundly depressed as one by one his three sisters died. His mother also died. Now he is alone.

“Grade A” Stamps on Eggs

What does “Grade A” on the egg carton mean to you? Do you think it means the eggs have been checked, and it’s a quality seal? No, the mark on the carton just means that the U.S. Department of Agriculture had a “grader” at an egg-packing facility who checked the eggs’ size and color and made sure the shells weren’t cracked, a USDA official said. The USDA officials have stressed that ensuring egg safety is not their job. Then whose responsibility is it? The answer is “FDA.”

The egg shield comes from USDA marketing side. Egg makers don’t need to stamp the shield on their carton, but the stamp can help them charge more for their products.

USDA is responsible the safety of the meat, not egg. The seal, which USDA provides, will give consumers certain assurances:

1. No white eggs slip into a carton of brown eggs
2. No regular size eggs are classified as extra large
3. None of the eggs are cracked
4. Grade A is the most familiar kind to consumers
5. Grade B eggs can be slightly stained or misshapen
6. Grade AA eggs have the smallest air cell inside the egg