British ultimatum to the king to appoint a Wafdist government. Driven by anxieties over the presence of Axis sympathizers in the palace and government, the British turned to the Wafd as the only party they could trust to govern wartime Egypt. When the king, who disliked the Wafd, tried to defy the ultimatum, the British ambassador, Sir Miles Lampson, sent tanks to surround Abdin Palace, the royal residence. Faced with abdication or submission, the king capitulated and appointed a Wafdist government. Though officially neutral for most of the war, the government cooperated with the British.
