 On 17 November 1948, Farouk divorced the very popular Queen Farida which, coming in middle of the losing war with Israel, was a profound shock to the Egyptian people.On the same day, the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlevi, divorced Princess Fawzia.Farouk and Mohammad Reza had planned to divorce their wives on the same day to distract the media from giving too much attention to either of their stories.