Egyptian writer Adel Sabit recalling the waning years of the monarchy in Egypt (A King Betrayed: The Ill Fated Reign of Farouk of Egypt, Cairo: Quartet Books, 1989, 92), tells the story of Farouk's diminutive, eccentric cousin, Princess Munira Hamdy. Princess Munira, who stood under five feet tall, was usually seen patrolling Cairo in her Rolls Royce dressed in a kefiyyah and wearing an ornamental dagger as she sought out and chastised citizens who, in her judgment, were mistreating their donkeys, horses, cats, and dogs.
In the spring of 1942, as Rommel approached al-Alamein, Munira decided to take a stand against the advancing Germans from her villa in Cairo. She issued arms to every member of her household, including the servants (even the gardener). She herself manned a gatling gun. Then she ordered the whole company to fire on the apartment building next door which she was convinced had been occupied by the invading Germans. At four in the morning, it was decided to call in the only man in Egypt deemed capable of handling Munira, a courtier named Hassanein Pasha who arrived in his pajamas, and, hailing Munira, put an end to the campaign with these words: "Your Highness, I have been sent by His Majesty to congratulate you on this magnificent occasion. The enemy has surrendered and is now being disarmed by the troops. There is no further need for shooting. They have had enough. You have the nation's grateful thanks."