AS mentioned last week, AI- Tahra Palace was originally built and owned by Mohamed Taber Pasha, cousin of King Farouk. The palace was later bought by king Farouk, who remained its owner until it was confiscated by the government of the Egyptian Revolution that overthrew him in 1952, since when it has been used as a guesthouse and a presidential residence.
In March 1954, Egypt’s first President Mohamed Naguib and Prime Minister Gamal Abdel Nasser welcomed the King of Saudi Arabia at AI- Tahra. Later, President Gamal Abdel¬Nasser regularly used Al-Tahra as the venue for his formal dinners and garden parties. In May 1955, he bade farewell to British Ambassador Sir Ralph Stevenson there, and, in June 1959, President Nasser welcomed Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie and granted him the medal of the Nile-during an official ceremony in Al-Tahra gardens.
Al-Tahra Palace became the official residence ‘for presi¬dential guests. Noteworthy among them was King of Afghanistan Mohamed Zahir Shah in 1960, and in 1961 President Sukarno of Indonesia and Prime Minister of Somalia Abdelrashid Ali Shermarke. Many of the guests also hosted dinners at AI-Tahra: in November 1962. Princess Margret of Denmark, and in November 1963 Prime Minister of Uganda Milton Obote each hosted such a dinner.
In February 1966, after the bloody revolution in Ghana, President Nasser hosted the family of Ghana’s President Nkrumah at Al-Tahra Palace. Fathiya, the Ghanaian President’s wife was of Egyptian nationality and together with her three children, was received and greeted and allowed to stay at the palace until they settled into their new residence in Cairo.
During the presidency of Anwar el-Sadat who succeeded Nasser, Al-Tahra Palace continued to serve as a presidential guesthouse and, for the duration of the 1973 October War, it played a new and significant role in the Egyptian history. For the first time it became the headquarters of the leadership, the base for the 1973 military operation, and the site of cru¬cial decisions. The ground floor of AI-Tahra Palace changed from a luxurious royal billiard room to a conference and dis¬cussion hall, where a number of huge maps and 3-D models of the battlefield were constructed.
From behind the walls of this palace, President Sadat gave the green light to engage in war. As we can see, from the time of King Farouk, and throughout the time of presidents Nasser and Sadat, Al-Tahra Palace played an important role in both war and peace. In the next article, different parts of the palace will be visited in details.
