Full story of smuggled bedroom suite of King Farouk I

CAIRO - 18 January 2018: Two days ago, social media users received shocking news about the historical bedroom suite of King Farouk I, which was stolen from the royal family’s lounge at Giza Zoo. A video review posted by M.S. Rau Antiques went viral on social media; the video showed the suite as a part of an auction by M.S. Rau Antiques for almost one million dollars.

During a visit of former Minister of Agriculture Ayman Farid Abu Hadid to Giza Zoo back in 2013, the minister discovered that the original suite of King Farouk’s bedroom was stolen and replaced with a cheap version from a nearby shop, said the prominent presenter Amr Adib during his talk show “Kol Yom” (Everyday) aired on channel ON E.

Adib added that the suite was not only stolen, but the huge pieces of furniture were also smuggled from Egypt to the United States.

Popular historian and author Lamis Gaber told Adib that this bedroom suite might belong to Khedive Ismail as he is the one who constructed Giza Zoo in 1891. She also clarified that King Farouk I bought only two bedroom suites in his lifetime, one is lost and the other is kept in Abdeen Palace.

The Ministry of Antiquities stated to Youm 7 that the royal lounge was included on the historical buildings list after the incident in 2013. Therefore, the administration of Giza Zoo was in charge of the building while the incident took place, and not the ministry.


Archive – Fragmented from Stolen King Farouk’s Bed Room Suite video
Also, the Director of Repatriation Department Mohamed Abdel Gawad told the Russian website Sputnik that the Ministry of Antiquities addressed the Ministry of Agriculture to find out more about King Farouk’s bedroom suite investigations.

The current Minister of Agriculture Abdel Moniem el-Banna said on the Russian website Sputnik that the auctioned bedroom suite is not the original one, which is still at its place in Giza Zoo.

The Arabic international newspaper El-Sharq El-Awsat explained that the video was posted in 2016, and the suite is not available anymore on the website of M.S. Rau Antiques, which means that the suite might have been sold.

Finally, the last king of Egypt and Sudan, former King Ahmed Fouad II released a press statement on his official Facebook page commenting on the incident.

He explained that all royal family possessions and artifacts belong to the Egyptian people. He demanded from the government to protect this heritage against theft or destruction.


"After the viral debate concerning the bedroom suite, an Egyptian lawyer filed a complaint the Public Prosecution office demanding to reinvestigate the case.

Prominent historian and author Bassam El- Shamaa’ told Egypt Today that he wonders how credited auction houses accept agrees to sell stolen artifacts.

He also asked M.S. Rau Antiques to release a report about the displayed suite and its history. "