Abd al-Ilah of Hejaz (Arabic: عبد الإله بن علي الهاشمي) GCB, GCMG, GCVO (Arabic: عبد الإله; also written Abdul Ilah or Abdullah; 14 November 1913 – 14 July 1958) was a cousin and brother-in-law of King Ghazi of the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq and was regent for his nephew King Faisal II, from 4 April 1939 to 23 May 1953, when Faisal came of age.

After he fled the country, Abd al-Ilah was replaced as regent by Sharaf bin Rajeh, an ageing, religious relative of Faisal II.

[3] Abd al-Ilah, fearing for his life, was taken on a daring escape route that led via the US embassy in Baghdad to the RAF base at Habbaniya, before reaching the safety of the British warship HMS Cockchafer and eventually the city of Jerusalem.

On 26 May, The New York Times newspaper reported that Abd al-Ilah had called for an uprising of tribal and religious leaders to help him overthrow the insurgent government.

[5] Working in tandem with Nuri al-Said, Abd al-Ilah pursued a moderate nationalist approach while maintaining close ties to the Allies.

[9] On 14 July 1958, a coup d'état led by Brigadier Abd al-Karim Qasim toppled the government and brought an end to the Iraqi monarchy.

Bloch describes Prince Abd al-Ilah as being "homosexual" and a close friend of Alan Lennox-Boyd, MP (who was later elevated to the peerage, in 1960, as the 1st Viscount Boyd of Merton).

Bloch says that after Abd al-Ilah was killed, "the revolutionaries discovered intimate letters from Lennox-Boyd among the Prince's papers, which they released to the world's press."