Hussein Kamel of Egypt

Who was Hussein Kamel of Egypt?

Sultan Hussein Kamel was the Sultan of Egypt from 19 December 1914 to 9 October 1917, during the British protectorate over Egypt.

Hussein Kamel was the son of Khedive Isma'il Pasha, who ruled Egypt from 1863 to 1879. Hussein Kamel was declared Sultan of Egypt on 19 December 1914, after the occupying British forces had deposed his nephew, Khedive Abbas Hilmi II, on 5 November 1914. The newly created Sultanate of Egypt was declared a British protectorate. This brought to an end the de jure Ottoman sovereignty over Egypt, which had been largely nominal since Muhammad Ali's seizure of power in 1805.

Upon Hussein Kamel's death, his only son, Prince Kamal al-Din Husayn, declined the succession, and Hussein Kamel's brother Ahmed Fuad ascended the throne as Fuad I. At the beginning of Naguib Mahfouz's novel Palace Walk, Ahmad Abd al-Jawwad says "What a fine man Prince Kamal al-Din Husayn is! Do you know what he did? He refused to ascend the throne of his late father so long as the British are in charge."