Princess Fazile dead at 83: She was buried next to her mother after her funeral took place

Princess Fazile could have become the Queen of Iraq in 1958, but her 23-year-old fiancé, Faisal II was assassinated. The Telegraph reported that “In September 1957 the young King was on a cruise in the Bosphorus. When he left, taking leave of President Bayar, it was revealed that there had been a more romantic and personal motive for his visit. He had become engaged to Princess Fazile, who was only 16. Unlike the earlier proposed alliances, this was a genuine love match.”

Faisal II and Princess Fazile were due to get married in July 1958, but the night before he was due to depart to the UK, a tragedy took place as Colonel Karim Qasim, who later become Prime Minister and was at the time a military officer, mounted a coup d’état (a illegal and overt attempt to overthrow an existing government.

Although King Faisal surrendered, when he and the rest of the royal family were asked to assemble in the courtyard of the Rihab Palace, he was shot in the head and neck and died shortly afterwards. Princess Fazile was at school at Heathfield at the time and the Iraqi ambassador went there to inform her of the tragic news. 

Princess Faisal was collected from Heathfield by her parents and taken to Paris. According to reports, the Princess who was once called ‘Cinderella’ then became known as ‘the sad Princess.’

As the years passed and Princess Faisal recovered from the tragedy, there were rumours that she might marry King Hussein of Jordan and become his second wife. She married Hayri Ürgüpli, son of Suat Ürgüpli in 1965 in Paris and the couple had two sons, Ali-Suat and Selim.

After divorcing him, Princess Faisal went on to marry  Jean-Alphonse Bernard; he passed away in 2015. Princess Faisal died on September 27, 2024 and was born on August 8, 1941, her full name at birth was Princess Nabila Sabiha Fazile.