27. The Kleptomaniac King
King Farouk I (1920 – 1965) ruled Egypt from 1936 until his overthrow in a military coup in 1952. His years in power were marked by endemic corruption, incompetent governance, and bizarre conduct. Among other things, Farouk was a kleptomaniac who could not resist stealing things and picking people’s pockets.
Farouk took pick-pocketing lessons, and his victims included Winston Churchill, whom the Egyptian king invited to a dinner during World War II. At the meal, Churchill discovered that his pocket watch – a prized family heirloom that had been a gift from Queen Anne to his ancestor John Churchill, First Duke of Marlborough – had gone missing. After an outcry and search, Farouk, who had been seated next to Churchill, sheepishly turned it in, claiming to have “found” it.