By the Grace of God

King Farouk, so the story went more than a year ago, saw a lovely girl shopping with her beau in Cairo for an engagement ring. Egypt's fat monarch, who had divorced Queen Farida, decided then & there that Narriman Sadek, the 16-year-old daughter of a civil servant, must be his next wife. Narriman's beau, Zaki Hachem, 27, Harvard-trained and a U.N. official, was swept out of his sweetheart's life. "A bad dream," he muttered. "I did not think such things could happen in the 20th Century." Then he lapsed into silence. No one heard how Narriman felt. Last summer she was reported shopping in Europe for a royal trousseau.

Last week Cairo broke its tight censorship over Farouk's highhanded love match. At Abdin Palace, the Royal Press Counselor Karem Sabet Pasha announced:

"Rendering praise to God, His Majesty's Cabinet is happy to announce to the noble Egyptian people the good news of the betrothal of their King, who has given them his heart and his love.

"On this blessed day [Feb. 11], when the country celebrates with gladness and joy the glorious anniversary of the royal birth, there took place by the grace of God the betrothal of our well-beloved Sovereign with the descendant of an illustrious and noble family, Miss Narriman Hanem, daughter of the late Hussein Fahmy Sadek Bey.

"In announcing the news of this happy betrothal of the great Farouk, [His Majesty's] Cabinet thanks Divine Providence for its beneficence, and prays that it may surround His Majesty with its high solicitude, secure his happiness and felicity, and make of this blessed betrothal a source of happy omen for beloved Egypt and for the august royal family."

Prime Minister Mustapha Nahas Pasha's engagement announcement was even more heavily embossed. Over the radio, he said:

"On this blessed day, on which you are rivals in ardor in celebrating the birthday of the King of the Beloved Valley of the Nile, there has been celebrated, in the Grace and under the protection of God, the engagement of His Majesty, King Farouk I, and an exquisite flower of Egyptian society, descendant of an illustrious and glorious family, Mlle. Narriman Sadek."

Cairo's Al Misri carried the note of adulation to an even higher pitch: "When the King decided to marry, he chose for a life partner a virtuous girl from the ranks of the people, thus proving by noble example that he is a democratic King, of the people and for the people."

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