On 12 February 1951, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi married his second wife, Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary. They were introduced to each other in 1948 and became engaged shortly thereafter. He had previously been married to Princess Fawzia of Egypt, but their marriage had produced just one child – a daughter named Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi. They were officially [read more]
The Imperial State of Iran existed between 1925 and 1979. The kingdom operated under Salic law, which did not allow for the succession of women. The Queens mentioned are, therefore, consorts and not reigning Queens. Any claimed titles since the end of the kingdom are titular. The first Shah of the Imperial State of Iran [read more]
Text by Brittani Barger Born on 22 June 1932 in the English Missionary Hospital in Isfahan, Iran, Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary was the elder child and only daughter of Khalil Esfandiary-Bakhtiary and his German wife, Eva Karl. Soraya was introduced to the Shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, in 1948. The Shah had recently divorced his first [read more]
As the protests against the Iranian government were followed by so many across the globe, we are continuing our series about the female members of the late Shah of Iran’s family. This post will focus on Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary, her life after being Queen of Iran. Read more about her life as Queen here. Born on 22 [read more]
They called her “the Princess with sad eyes”, “the Queen of sorrow”, but it all started differently in a time when happiness seemed the only natural option. The Shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was, in 1948, recently separated from his first wife, Princess Fawzia of Egypt, when he met Soraya, a beautiful young lady, [read more]
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