A film by Peter Batty to mark the 20th anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution.
The signs were auspicious when the handsome 16-year-old Prince ascended the throne of Egypt in 1936, but within a very few years Farouk had grown fat and depraved, clashed with his patrons, the British, and angered his protectors, the Egyptian army.
Tonight's film traces the rise and fall of the ill-starred playboy monarch through the eyes of people who knew him well.
'A man with five palaces but no home.'
'He owned two yachts and ten Rolls-Royces but was happiest playing dice with his barber.'
'Until he was 16 he never visited the Pyramids.'
(Radio Times People: page 4)