Opera singer Irma Capece Minutolo – the lover of the last Egyptian King – dies aged 87

Opera singer Irma Capece Minutolo – the lover of exiled King Farouk I of Egypt – has died aged 87.

Minutolo, who was born in Naples on August 6 1935 and died on June 7 2023, enjoyed quite a successful career in Italian opera – but for many, she was better known for claiming to be Farouk’s widow.

Playboy Farouk, who reigned from 1936 to 1952,  is seen by some as the actual last King of Egypt considering he was forced to abdicate in favour of his infant son Fuad II, who was deposed in less than a year when the country became a republic. 

He was living in exile in Naples – after his second wife, Queen Narriman, filed for divorce – when he came across teenage Minutolo, the newly crowned Miss Naples, on a diving board, dressed in an eye-catching bikini, according to The Telegraph. 

She recalled being impressed by the King, who spoke good Italian and was fluent in English, French and German. Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly in 2005, she reportedly claimed the two also met when she was 11, although when pressed to say how, she refused to offer more details about the early encounters.  

She told the newspaper: ‘When I first saw Farouk, I was 11 years old. We got married when I was 16.’ Catholic Minutolo claimed the pair were married in an Islamic ceremony and lived with one another for eight years. 

But years prior in 1954, she insisted: ‘I prefer not to marry. Farouk is sensible and tender, but marriage is the tomb of love.’

She also avoided commenting on the other females in the playboy King’s life, simply saying he had ‘many women friends’.

Farouk’s biographer, William Stadiem, reportedly claimed Minutolo’s parents initially disapproved of the King’s relationship with their daughter. However, once the former ruler offered them some money, it is thought they changed their minds. 

The exiled monarch also helped launch his lover’s singing career, renting out the exclusive Naples Artists Club in 1963 for her to perform at. 

However, after a minute on stage, the lights went out, leaving 300 guests either screaming or laughing at the situation, according to The Telegraph. 

The pianist’s sheet music also caught fire, and the Italian opera singer, known professionally as Imra Di Canosa by some, soon became simply amusement for critics to lambast.

Farouk died from a heart attack in 1965. He had dined with another young woman prior to his passing, and despite being his mistress for at least a decade, Minutolo wasn’t included in his will. 

Minutolo, who was born in Naples on August 6 1935 and died on June 7 2023, enjoyed quite a successful career in Italian opera – but for many, she was better known for claiming to be Farouk’s widow

Playboy Farouk (pictured right with Minutolo in 1954), who reigned from 1936 to 1952, is seen by some as the actual last King of Egypt considering he was forced to abdicate in favour of his infant son Fuad II, who was deposed in less than a year when the country became a republic

He was living in exile in Naples – after his second wife, Queen Narriman, filed for divorce – when he came across teenage Minutolo (pictured together in 1954), the newly crowned Miss Naples, on a diving board, dressed in an eye-catching bikini

She did, however, attend his funeral at the Verano Cemetery in Rome, alongside his first wife Queen Farida.

Her opera career soon took a successful turn and she was eventually awarded the Maria Callas prize and performed in Milan and Florence. She also featured in films, such as Young Toscanini (1988) starring Elizabeth Taylor.

The singer – who never wed anyone else and eventually looked after a singing school in Rome – claimed she was a princess even before her so-called wedding to the King. Minutolo’s claim that they were married has never been officially confirmed.

She told Al-Ahram Weekly that she was Princess of Canosa, a descendent of the old Neapolitan Capece-Minutolo family. 

Minutolo even reportedly sued two Italian journalists who claimed her father was a chauffeur. However, the outcome of the case is unknown.

She recalled being impressed by the King (pictured together in 1954), who spoke good Italian and was fluent in English, French and German. Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly in 2005, she reportedly claimed the two also met when she was 11, although when pressed to say how, she refused to offer more details about the early encounters

Farouk’s biographer, William Stadiem, reportedly claimed Minutolo’s parents initially disapproved of the King’s relationship with their daughter. However, once the former ruler offered them some money, it is thought they changed their minds

Farouk’s full title was ‘His Majesty Farouk I, by the grace of God, King of Egypt and of Sudan, Sovereign of Nubia, of Kordofan and of Darfur’.

Succeeding his father, Fuad I, to the throne, aged just 16, in 1936, he later gallivanted around Europe’s nightclubs, casinos and restaurants, consorting with the continent’s women.

Although he owned dozens of palaces and hundreds of cars, Farouk was a notorious pilferer who is said to have swiped a ceremonial sword from the Shah of Iran and a pocket watch from Winston Churchill.

His penchant for thievery and excess precipitated the coup which ousted him from power in 1952. Over 300lb in weight — described unkindly as ‘a stomach with a head’ — he died in Rome on March 18, 1965, after a characteristically heavy dinner.