The King and She Gertrude Bell and Sherif Faisal - by Caroline Catherine Chalouhi

Abstract

Gertrude Bell was Oriental Secretary to the British High Commission in Iraq from 1916 up to her death in 1926. Among other administrative duties as Oriental Secretary, her main job was to be the link between the High Commission and the native population. In being so, contemporary literature has regarded Bell as being a ‘King Maker’ in the placing of Faisal as the first monarch of Iraq in 1921 after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Making Sherif Faisal the first King of Iraq would require a great deal of planning, propaganda, public relations, media manipulation, and clandestine decision making on Bell’s part amongst a disunited population. This thesis therefore hopes to explore what her king making role was during the period of March 1921 (Faisal’s nomination) up to August 1921 (Faisal’s coronation). To demonstrate his power a King would also need to be surrounded by pageantry and spectacles that would support his regal status and help him to gain credibility in the eyes of both the British and his subjects. After Faisal’s coronation, I will also explore what Bell’s efforts were, in creating such pageantry where Bell, as part of the ‘king-making’ endeavor would also be Faisal’s ‘court maker.’ Being the only woman to serve in the administration Bell was regarded as being the, ‘Daughter of the Desert’ and ‘Uncrowned Queen of Iraq.’ Titles with feminine connotations, the fact that she was the only woman officer in a man’s domain is intriguing. As a woman she stood out amongst her colleagues and the Iraqi people, and it may have been due to her gender that she acquired much exposure, fame and respect.