and thereafter the King effectively lost his freedom of movement. On 18 July his younger son Salah Eddine was arrested on charges falsified by the police. On 25 July 1957 the Constituent Assembly voted on a show of hands to abolish the monarchy, declare a Republic and make Bourguiba President. Straight away, a delegation headed by deputy speaker Ali Belhouane Interior Minister Taïeb Mehiri and Justice Minister Ahmed Mestiri went to the palace of Carthage to make the King aware of the decree and ask him to leave the palace along with his wife, their three sons, seven daughters and grandchildren. 'We went into the throne room right away, and without being announced, as we were already expected. Lamine Bey, wearing a jebba and with his hair undressed, stood there, dignified, without saying a word. Belhouane called out in his theatrical voice As-Salamou Alaikum and then read out the resolution of the Constituent Assembly. A photographer had come with us, and wanted to start working, but straight away the King broke his silence. Ah no, not that! he said, making a gesture of refusal, the last reflex of his authority. We did not want to deny the wishes of the old man, or humiliate him further. Then Ali Belhaouane made a gesture of salute with his hand, repeated As-Salamou Alaikum in his stentorian voice, and turned on his heels. As we withdrew, police commissioner Driss Guiga presented himself and advised the fallen ruler of an order from the Minister of the Interior placing him in isolation. In the course of this, hearing the name of his father spoken, the King reacted again, saying Allah Yarhamou (May God save his soul) clearly out loud as he left the room. It was over. The whole thing had not even lasted three minutes.' Confinement and death The 75-year old Muhammad left his palace wearing a simple jebba of white linen and a pair of yellow Moroccan slippers, which he lost along the way. He was taken to the Hidaya palace in Manouba, an old abandoned beylical palace without water or electricity, which was assigned to him and several members of his family: his wife Lalla Djeneïna, their sons princes Chedly, M'hamed and Salah Eddine, princess Soufia, his son in law Mohamed Ben Salem and the Bey al-Mahalla Hassine Bey. The furniture of their new dwelling was no more than a mattress on the