 Khedive Ismail's spending had put Egypt into huge debt, and when his financing of the Suez Canal started to crumble, the United Kingdom stepped in and repaid his loans in return for controlling shares in the canal.As the most direct route to India, the jewel in the British Crown, control over the Suez Canal was of paramount strategic importance, and British commercial and imperial interests dictated the need to seize or otherwise control it.Thus an ever-increasing British role in Egyptian affairs seemed necessary.