A Woman in Arabia (31 page)

But it was in vain and Sir Percy came back extremely sad that he hadn't secured [the king's] co-operation—but resolved to go on without it. Exactly what he was going to do I did not know until . . . next day when he observed that the police were busy arresting seven of the principal agitators in Baghdad, that the two extremist newspapers had been closed down and the two extremist parties abruptly ended.

We spent the morning in some anxiety. . . . We had troops and armoured cars waiting outside the town gates, but they were not needed. . . . The extremists collapsed. In the evening an admirable communiqué in English and Arabic was published. . . . It is Sir Percy at his very best and you can't beat him. Its effect was instantaneous. . . . Mr. Cornwallis had summoned some 30 of the notables in the afternoon and read it to them. They expressed themselves in no measured terms as delighted with the action that had been taken, and not least delighted were Nuri and Ja'far, those ardent Nationalists. . . .

Sir Percy has saved the situation and has given the King a loophole through which he can walk when he is able to walk. . . . By that time—his convalescence if necessary can be prolonged—we shall have got a clear line from home, take it or leave it. Moreover the moderates are lifting their heads sky high; Saiyid Mahmud's party is swelling visibly and as soon as what has happened in Baghdad becomes known in the provinces, the extremists will have to build an ark if they want to escape from the political flood.

Any number of witnesses could testify that Faisal was unconscious while Cox set his initiatives under way. When the king
recovered from his illness, he was deeply appreciative of Cox's actions, which relieved him from all blame in suppressing the insurgency. Cox then took the treaty to the naqib, handed him a pen, and—flustered and alarmed—he finally signed it. Cox also signed and, in compliance with the mandate, the Treaty of Alliance between Great Britain and Iraq provided for twenty years of British occupation in an advisory capacity. It was October 10, 1922.

Faisal proclaimed the treaty in a ringing speech that looked forward to “the continuance of the friendship of our illustrious ally, Great Britain, and to carrying out the elections for the convening of a Constituent Assembly to frame the Organic Law.” It was also a step toward membership in the League of Nations as an independent country.

The king now ordered the preparation of elections to the Constituent Assembly to ratify the treaty and approve the constitution, after which the first parliament could be elected. Once again, Cox was called to London to review Britain's role in Iraq. He returned with an addendum to the treaty, a protocol that reduced Britain's involvement from twenty years to no longer than four more years from the ratification of peace with Turkey.

At the end of April 1923, Cox finally left Iraq. His last act of kindness to Gertrude was to sanction the cost of an additional drawing room to her summer house, in recognition of all the entertaining she did there for the good of the secretariat.

April 26, 1923

All this time rather tears the heart strings, you understand. It's very moving saying goodbye to Sir Percy. . . .

May 9, 1923

What a position [Sir Percy] has made for himself here! I think no Englishman has inspired more confidence in the East. He
himself was dreadfully unhappy at going—40 years' service is not a thing one lays down easily.

February 13, 1924

I must tell you something very touching. . . . Sir Percy has sent me a photograph of himself in a silver frame and across the corner he has written: “To the best of comrades.” Isn't that the nicest thing he could possibly have written?

The new high commissioner for Iraq, Sir Henry Dobbs, took firm charge of Britain's responsibilities for security and foreign affairs. Elections now went ahead, with Faisal encouraging the population to go out and vote.

Once the constitution had been achieved, with an elected Cabinet and ministers responsible for their departments, the poignant truth was that Gertrude's own power and authority were diminished. After the treaty gave Iraqis the principal role in government, political and official decisions passed beyond her control. While Cox had been in charge, it had been routine for him to call on Gertrude throughout the week, to discuss policy and current events. Dobbs discontinued that habit, but he and his wife were on very friendly terms with Gertrude and frequently asked her to their house.

As she became less involved in office affairs, she devoted more and more time to archaeology. In August 1922, Faisal signed Gertrude's Law of Excavations, intended to protect the sites and historical treasures of Iraq. He appointed her honorary director of archaeology. Her tireless work to establish the Iraq Museum occupied her for the rest of her life (see “The Archaeologist”).

Her devotion to the king and his well-being did not prevent her from a creeping disillusionment with his attitude over the nationalists and extremists who wanted Britain to leave Iraq. He refused again and again to suppress them. She feared that his obstinacy would cause Britain to pull out altogether, and that without its support, Iraq would break apart.

The following are extracts from a long letter Gertrude had written to her father over several days from May 18 to June 4,
1922. She had just returned to Baghdad from Jerusalem where he had gone to meet her.

On Monday I went to tea with the King. I said that I had come back with the conviction that we were the only Arab province which was set in the right path and that if we failed here it would be the end of Arab aspirations. He was most affectionate and charming. . . . There may be difficulties in dealing with a creature so sensitive and highly strung but his fine and vital qualities and his wonderful breadth of outlook make up for everything.

Mr. Cornwallis and I had a long talk. I told him I was very unhappy over the King's indecisive attitude, his refusal to contradict the statements of the extremist papers and the backing he was giving to the most ignoble extremists. . . .

At 4.30 I went to tea with the King, determined to tell him once and for all what was in my mind. I wish I could give you a picture of it—the big, empty, shaded room with the electric fans whirring; the King dressed in white robes with a fine white linen kerchief bound round his head; the emotional atmosphere of which he, with his acute perceptions, was fully conscious. For I was playing my last card, and I told him so. I began by asking him whether he believed in my personal sincerity and devotion to him. He said he could not doubt it. . . . I said . . . that I was extremely unhappy. I had formed a beautiful and gracious snow image to which I had given allegiance and I saw it melting before my eyes. Before every noble outline had been obliterated, I preferred to go; in spite of my love for the Arab nation and my sense of responsibility for its future, I did not think I could bear to see the evaporation of the dream which had guided me day by day. . . . I would not wait until the villains in whom he put his trust inevitably blackened me in his eyes.

On this theme we had a terrific discussion—during which he kissed my hand at intervals, which is very disconcerting! . . . In the end I got from him permission to publish an official contradiction of the newspaper reports . . . and when on leaving I attempted to kiss his hand he warmly embraced me! . . .

I'm still
sous le coup
of this interview. Faisal is one of the
most lovable of human beings but he is amazingly lacking in strength of character. . . . He veers with every breath.

June 6, 1922

I lunched with Mr. Cornwallis and heard that the King had already gone back on one of the things I had urged him to do. . . .

Oh the King, the King! If only he would be more firm!

Did Gertrude appreciate the clever game that the king was playing? She had met her match in Faisal, whose political subtlety was at least equal to hers. He had, after all, managed to get the mandate turned into a treaty and get himself crowned in spite of ultimatums from the British government, and he had kept the British on his side while continuing to convince the extremists of his independence. As a constitutional king he understood better than Gertrude perhaps his duty to stand above politics. And whatever Gertrude had said, she remained his dedicated friend, trying to keep him on what she saw as the straight and narrow while he disarmed her at every interview.

June 22, 1922

I went to tea with the King and had one of the most interesting talks I've ever had with him. . . . I sat listening with breathless interest—it was a contribution to history . . . but what I can't reproduce is the psychology of it . . . his face narrow and eager between the folds of his white kerchief, reflecting every turn of his thought with its wonderful mobility of feature; the shining eyes of the idealist, deepened by sorrow and disappointment and yet no reproach in them.

July 16, 1922

. . . Perhaps the King does hold my hand more though he embraces Mr. Cornwallis oftener—we compare notes.

July 20, 1922

Today the King ordered me to tea. He was at his best, wise and statesmanlike. . . . He is the most enchanting person, of that there is no doubt.

Gertrude had fought for an independent Arab nation for just as long as Faisal. It had been her inspiration in Cairo, Basra and Baghdad. She had been a lone voice in the days when she worked for A. T. Wilson; she had sat firm while Britain made repeated threats to withdraw from Iraq; she had nearly despaired during the insurrections of 1920; she had watched the years go by as the West procrastinated and the Turks put every obstacle in the way of defining a northern border for Iraq. Now, with so much behind her and so much achieved, she was tired and frail, indomitable of spirit but subject to bad health due to one of the worst climates in the world, no less than to her constant smoking.

One source of fun remained to her: court-making for the queen. Faisal had told Gertrude that after the debacle in Damascus in 1920, he had been cautious about bringing his wife and children with him to Iraq. In fact, his father Hussein had been holding Faisal's family in Mecca
.

July 24, 1921

Faisal sent for me and we had a long talk. I asked him about his wife, who is his cousin, and said I thought she too ought to be encouraged to make a position and a court. He was rather shy about her—they are always embarrassed about their women, thinking that they are too ignorant to be presentable, but he agreed that we must make a beginning.

By 1924, settled into two palaces and with the Hejaz suffering increasing aggression from Ibn Saud and his Wahhabis, Faisal began to bring his family to Baghdad, beginning with his favorite and youngest brother, Zaid. After Zaid came the
king's only son, twelve-year-old Ghazi, accompanied by his slaves. He immediately earned a place in Gertrude's heart.

August 20, 1924

The King is much excited because King Husain has at last released his only son, Ghazi, who has been kept at Mecca till now. The boy. . . is now at Amman and H.M. is sending Muhsin Beg across to fetch him.

She felt he needed good tutors and the company of men, but before she began on his entourage, she was required to help choose his clothes. The king now wore European dress most of the time and wanted his son to do the same.

October 7, 1924

The great event of Sunday was the arrival of the Amir Ghazi. . . . He is very little for his age. He has the long sensitive face of his father and charming manners, a shy dignity which is most engaging. The whole town turned out, more even than when Faisal came.

The next day I was called up to the palace to help to choose Ghazi's clothes. There was an English tailor from Bombay with patterns. So we chose his little shirts and suits, the tailor behaving like a tailor in Thackeray. He skipped about, pointed his toe and handed me patterns with one hand on his heart. Ghazi came in to be measured, half shy and half pleased.

October 8, 1924

I think the little Amir is going to be a great interest. The palace is all wrong, the wrong people there, and I do so want to get Ghazi's entourage properly constituted. I can't do much except mark time till Ken [Sir Kinahan Cornwallis] comes, but Sinbad
[Sir Harry Sinderson] has returned with his wife today and they will help me. As the King's personal physician Sinbad can have a good deal to say as to Ghazi's bringing up. He has been very much neglected in a household of slaves and ignorant women. He can barely read and write Arabic; but he is intelligent and twelve isn't so very old after all. I expect the women folk will come out now, after the break-up at Mecca. There are two daughters
*
—one of them must be nearly eighteen. Anyhow, having Ghazi will make a great difference to Faisal. It was too pretty to see them, the other day when I was sitting in H.M.'s garden, going off to pray hand in hand when the sunset prayers were called.

Meanwhile, Hussein had provoked Ibn Saud by appropriating the title of Caliph. In October, Ibn Saud attacked, Mecca fell, and King Hussein abdicated.

October 15, 1924

We are having fearful alarums and excursions over Mecca. The King had violent hysterics on Monday; on Tuesday he formally abdicated in favour of the Amir Ghazi—but only to Sir Henry. H.E. asked him where he was going, to which H.M. couldn't find an answer. His family, apparently, are sailing about the Red Sea like so many Flying Dutchmen. Sir Henry then advised H.M. to wait and see, so he withdrew his abdication for four days! I remember that in 1922 Ken Cornwallis had Faisal's abdication lying about in a drawer for a month.

Following the young emir came his mother, the queen, with Ghazi's three sisters, to live in the country villa at Harithiya. In accordance with family tradition, Faisal had married his first cousin, the emira Huzaima, who lived strictly in purdah with her daughters. The fact that the queen lived in seclusion would
make the notion of a Western-style court impossible. Male visitors were entertained at dinners and receptions hosted by Faisal alone in the Baghdad palace, after which he would drive to Harithiya to spend the night with his family. Gertrude was one of the first to be received by the queen, who spoke only Arabic, although she understood a little English and French.

December 17, 1924

The Queen and all the family—not King Husain!—arrived yesterday. I haven't seen any of them yet but I dutifully telephoned this morning to ask after them.

December 23, 1924

She's charming, I'm so happy to say. She has the delicate, sensitive Hashimi . . . face and the same winning manner that he has. She had on a very nice, long tunicked brown gown . . . a long long string of pearls, . . . and a splendid aquamarine pendant. I saw the 2 eldest girls who are just like her, rather shy but not at all wooden and eager to be outgoing.

Gertrude asked the queen if she might invite Ghazi to tea, accompanied by his slaves, and was soon ordering him marvelous toys from Harrods.

December 14, 1924

The train and soldiers I had ordered for him from Harrods had arrived last mail and were presented, with great success. Especially the train. He loves all kinds of machinery and in fact was much cleverer about the engine than any of us. . . . We all sat on the floor and watched it running along the rails, following it with shouts of joy.

Gertrude was in charge of the clothes to be made for the queen, tunics and gowns suitable for the king's wife and her all-female receptions and tea parties. Out of doors, the royal women and their suites wore the traditional black silk veil, but when they visited the houses of their women friends or relations, the veils would be left with the maid at the door. Gertrude recommended the dressmaker-nuns who had made her own clothes before she had been joined by her maid, Marie, and brought them to Harithiya to introduce them. Later, Elsa and Molly would be dispatched to the London shops for suitable Western-style clothes for the queen and the daughters, only ever to be seen in private.

December 31, 1924

The King sent for me on Monday to discuss what arrangements should be made about the Queen's household. I was glad he consulted me for there were some terrible pitfalls ahead. He has acted on my suggestion that he should make the wife of his principal A.D.C., Jaudet Beg, mistress of ceremonies, as you might say—Chamberlainess it is in Arabic. Mme. Jaudet is of a very distinguished Circassian family, long settled in Baghdad and greatly respected. Miss Fairley, who is governess to the Amir Ghazi, is to teach the girls English and tennis and European behaviour. . . . She is a nice, good little girl and I am very much pleased that she has found a permanent place at the palace. I shall have to unteach them to call a napkin a serviette, which they will certainly do under her guidance.

So, once again, I'm busy court-making!

February 25, 1925

Yesterday I went up to the palace to take the King for a walk for the good of his health and found the girls having a music lesson and Ghazi having a writing lesson in his own little house. Ghazi had just developed a film in the developing box I had given him
and was in a great state of glee, unimpaired by the fact that the figures of his sisters had the appearance of having been rocked in an earthquake at the time the pictures were taken. He is a dear little boy with charming manners; he makes a point of speaking English to me and here [enclosed] is his first letter in that tongue.

The young emir never failed to observe the traditional calls to prayer and presumably continued to do so even during his later school days at Harrow. For the loss of her son to an English public school, the queen would find it difficult to forgive Gertrude, on whose advice he was sent there.