The mother of twins born conjoined and later successfully separated has fondly remembered the day her sons’ remarkable journey “fascinated” Queen Elizabeth II during their meeting on her historic tour of the Republic of Ireland.
Hassan and Hussein Benhaffaf made headlines when they were born joined from chest to pelvis, sharing some vital organs, and with one leg each in December 2009.
At the age of 4 months, they beat odds of a million to one to survive a highly complex separation surgery at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital and became known as “the Little Fighters”.
Audiences across the world were captivated by the tots’ inspiring tale, and none other than the queen revealed she was one of those glued to her television screen.
Angie Benhaffaf introduced her sons to the monarch during her state visit to Ireland in 2011, a tour seen as a major milestone in strengthening Anglo-Irish relations.
“She showed a huge interest in the boys,” Mrs Benhaffaf told The National. “She was fascinated.
“She told me she had seen their story on the news. You kind of sometimes forget that royals are people who go home like the rest of us and put their feet up and watch TV.
“To hear that she had watched them with such interest and followed their progress was incredible. She wished them well and wanted the best outcome. It was a bit surreal.
“She was asking when I found out they were conjoined and what [organs] they shared. I told her how the boys got on during the separation in London and how the teams in Ireland and the UK co-operated and created this amazing result, being the survival of both of the boys. I explained to her about the risks and that the survival rate is quite low.
“She said they were very cute. It was just a lovely, positive meeting.”
No British monarch had visited Ireland in a century, making the queen the first to do so since the nation officially gained independence in 1922.
The sovereign was well received and won praise for speaking the native tongue during a speech at Dublin Castle where she was hosted by the Irish president. She also visited the Garden of Remembrance in the capital, which commemorates those who fought for Irish freedom.
Her meeting with the Benhaffaf twins, aged 17 months at the time and dressed in matching suits, symbolised the strengthening of Anglo-Irish relations following a history of unrest.
Their Algerian-born father As, 50, was watching the meeting on television at home with daughters Malika, now 18, and Iman, 15.
A framed picture of the queen, dressed in symbolic green for the "Emerald Isle", smiling at the toddlers now hangs in the Benhaffaf family home in east Cork to remind the 12-year-olds of their brush with royalty, because they have no recollection of the day.
Hussein managed to stay awake for his encounter with the British monarch, but the attention was too much for Hassan and he dozed off.
Dr Edward Kiely, from Cork, who led the team of experts in separating the boys at one of London’s leading hospitals, was by Mrs Benhaffaf’s side at the meeting with the queen.
“It was lovely for me to introduce him to the queen because I felt he had well and truly earned it,” Mrs Benhaffaf, 48, said.
“We had a nice little chat. I felt that she would have quite happily stayed longer if she was able to.
“At the end of the day, she was a grandmother herself and a mum herself and I felt I just saw that side of her. I was a mum who had gone through a traumatic birth and this was a lovely positive story to be able to tell her. I felt she spoke to me as a mother which was a gorgeous side to see.
“I’m just an ordinary mother with two extraordinary boys so I couldn’t understand how we had been chosen to meet her. It was a lovely honour.
“It’s also funny because the boys don’t remember it because they were so young. Down through the years, they would come from school and say someone told them they had met the queen and say: ‘Mum, have we really met the queen?’ I have to show them the picture.”
After Buckingham Palace announced that Britain’s longest-serving monarch had died at Balmoral on September 8, two soldiers lowered Ireland’s tricolour flag to half-staff at a government building in Dublin. The republic’s flag was also lowered as a mark of respect at Irish embassies around the world.
The Benhaffaf family said that they had been “sad to hear of her passing”.
More than a decade on from when they charmed the queen, Hassan and Hussein continue to thrive and are excelling at school and sports.
Last summer, they travelled to the UK to compete in the Disabled Sports England Junior Championship in Coventry, winning six medals, including golds for javelin, shot put and discus.
Now, the soon-to-be teenagers, who enjoy wheelchair basketball and swimming in their spare time, have their sights set on one day competing in the Paralympics.
“They make their mummy very proud,” Mrs Benhaffaf said.
“They are leading amazing lives and doing wonderful at school and in sports. I always had hope that they would.”
