The Last Monarch of Tunisia: Power and politics

How Tunisia’s last monarch was deposed by its first president – a power struggle remembered on Tunisian Republic Day.

At the dawn of Tunisian independence in 1957, there was a bitter power struggle between the country’s monarch and its first president.

It was a “winner takes all” battle between Habib Bourguiba, leader of the Tunisian independence movement, and Lamine Bey, whose family had ruled the country for more than 250 years.

Through witness accounts – including frank testimony from 99-year-old Driss Guiga, the former national security director and a Bourguiba loyalist, and contributions from a direct descendent of the royal family – this film reveals how the monarch was deposed.