Her Imperial Highness Princess Hadice Sultan

The Gilded Cage on the Bosphorus

The Ottomans : The Story of a Family

Today I am going to introduce Princess Hadice – the eldest of Sultan Murad‘s daughters.

Childhood

Princess Hadice was the daughter of Sultan Murad V and his Third Consort, the Lady Şayan. She was born in secret on 5th April 1870 in her father’s mansion, the Muradiye Köşkü in Kurbağalıdere, when Murad was Crown Prince. Her very existence was kept a secret for the first few years of her life. It had been decreed that Imperial Princes were only permitted one son. Since Murad already had a son when the Lady Şayan fell pregnant, Sultan Abdülaziz ordered that the pregnancy be terminated. Murad, however, pleaded with the doctor appointed to carry out the abortion to disregard the Sultan’s order. Shortly after Hadice’s birth, this precautionary yet outdated practice was discontinued.

Hadice was only six years old when her father ascended the Ottoman throne. The pretty little princess moved into Dolmabahçe Palace with her elder brother Selahaddin, her baby sister and the rest of her father’s household. Sadly she barely had time to learn her way around the labyrinth of corridors and rooms of the palace harem, before Murad was deposed just three months later. She was then taken to the Çırağan Palace with her family, where she spent the rest of her childhood. In fact, she was held in confinement for about twenty-two years in this gilded cage, before her uncle, Sultan Abdülhamid, at last granted her permission to leave.

The Romantic Princess

Hadice was vivacious, she was captivating, she was confident. She was a modern woman, with modern tastes and liberal ideas. Hadice always dressed elegantly and in the most fashionable styles. She was regarded as one of the most beautiful of the Ottoman Imperial princesses of the day, and had a unique charm.

Hadice was not simply considered a great beauty, but she was also very well educated, as were all her siblings. Murad placed great importance on education, and personally saw to it that his daughters received a similar level of education to his son. She particularly enjoyed French literature and was often found devouring a French novel borrowed from one of the shelves in her father’s famous library.

In my book, Murad’s First Consort describes Hadice thus: “She has filled her dreamy head with so many French novels that it has affected her vision of the world, and she has come to believe that life is one long, exhilarating adventure. She is in love with the idea of love.” I think this is an apt description of this romantic princess who, all her life, yearned to be loved.

In Search of a Husband

In the late 1890s, Sultan Abdülhamid agreed to Hadice’s request to marry. He allowed her and her younger sister to leave the Çırağan Palace and move to Yıldız Palace in order to find husbands for them both. But he imposed one very harsh condition. They would never be allowed to return to Çırağan. This meant that they would never again be permitted to see their father. The sisters reluctantly agreed after their father encouraged them to leave in order to seek out their own happiness. Neither princess believed Sultan Abdülhamid would actually enforce his condition so strictly, but he did. Even when Murad was on his death bed the sisters were forbidden from visiting their father. They would live to regret their decision.

It soon became clear that it was impossible to find eligible bridegrooms who were prepared to marry either one of the Muradiye princesses. Dashing officers and ambitious young men did not want to align themselves with the daughters of the deposed former Sultan for fear of alienating Sultan Abdülhamid. They did not want to jeopardise their chances of rising through the ranks of the military or the diplomatic corps. As a result, the Sultan chose unsuitable and unworthy men for both his nieces. And neither would be happy…

Marriage

Hadice married Ali Vasıf Pasha on 12th September 1901. He was a palace scribe, the son of a lowly table servant. She moved into her new home with her husband – a beautiful yalı, a mansion on the Bosphorus, – that was the generous wedding gift from the Sultan. All Hadice had ever dreamed of was finding true love and getting married, but instead she went from one melancholy prison to another. In the book, she describes Vasıf Pasha as “bigoted, parochial, narrow-minded and vulgar, and is in addition neither kind nor respectful.“

Scandalously in Love

And then, it happened. What Hadice had been waiting for all her life. She fell in love!

Perhaps I should share with you how it happened. Or maybe I should tell you when it happened. I could even explain what the tragic and far-reaching consequences were. But I do not want to spoil the story for you, just incase I do decide to publish my story! So, instead, all I will tell you is that Princess Hadice fell in love with a charming, handsome young army officer named Kemaleddin Pasha.

Hadice: As Portrayed in ‘The Gilded Cage on the Bosphorus’

When we first meet Princess Hadice in ‘The Gilded Cage on the Bosphorus’, she is sitting alone in the salon of her yalı. She holds a small book entitled ‘Echo’, the most recent selection of poems written by her friend, Nigar Hanım. Hadice relates all too easily to the sentiment of these heartfelt poems, and finds great comfort and much encouragement in them. She admires how this inspirational poet had the strength to divorce her husband and escape her own unhappy marriage, and she wonders if she could ever find the courage to do the same.

We watch the story of Hadice and Kemaleddin unfold, but aside from that we learn much about Hadice’s character. She is fiery and passionate, impetuous and bold. She is rebellious, daring and ebullient. Yet she is also sensitive, emotional, and has a desperate need for intimacy and love. Some readers will resonate with the conflict raging in Hadice’s conscience, while others will have little sympathy for her. I find myself admiring a woman who was most certainly ahead of her times, but I do feel sad that sorrow, loneliness and emptiness always seemed to haunt my great aunt…