The succession issue was discussed between Hussein Kamel and British High Commissioner Henry McMahon in May 1915 in the wake of the failed assassination attempt against the sultan.

However, they first requested that Kamal el Dine make a formal renunciation of the throne, in order for the United Kingdom not to appear in the eyes of the Egyptian public as having deprived him of his legitimate rights.

Although there were rumours that Kamel el Dine had declined the succession under the influence of his wife Nimet Allah (who did not recognize the legitimacy of her brother Abbas Hilmi II's dethronement), most historians explain his decision by his unwillingness to reign under a British protectorate which he strongly opposed.

Educated at the Theresian Military Academy in Austria, Prince Kamal el Dine Hussein attained the rank of general and became the commander-in-chief of the Egyptian Army in 1914.

Prince Kamal el Dine Hussein married in Cairo on 5 May 1904 to Princess Nimet Allah (1881–1965), the youngest daughter of Khedive Tewfik Pasha.