The Sad

1. Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari
Princess Soraya of Iran (born Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari 22 June 1932
– 26 October 2001) was the second wife and Queen
Consort of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the late Shah of Iran.
Birth
Soraya was the eldest child and only daughter of Khalil
Esfandiary, a Bakhtiari nobleman and Iranian ambassador to West
Germany in the 1950s, and his Russian-born German wife Eva Karl. She
had one sibling, a younger brother, Bijan. She was born in the English
Missionary Hospital in Isfahanon 22 June 1932.
Her family had long been involved in the Iranian government and
diplomatic corps. An uncle, Sardar Assad, was a leader in the Iranian
constitutional movement of the early 20th century.
Marriage
In 1948, Soraya was introduced to the recently divorced Shah Mohammed
Reza Pahlavi, by Forough Zafar Bakhtiari, a close relative of Soraya's, via
a photograph taken by Goodarz Bakhtiary, in London, per Forough Zafar's
request. At the time Soraya had completed high school at a
Swiss finishing school and was studying the English language in
London.They were soon engaged: the Shah gave her a 22.37 carat (4.474
g) diamond engagement ring.
Soraya married the Shah at Golestan Palace, Tehran on 12 February
1951. Originally the couple had planned to wed on 27 December 1950, but
the ceremony was postponed due to the bride being ill.
Though the Shah announced that guests should donate money to a
special charity for the Iranian poor, among the wedding gifts was a mink
coat and a desk set with black diamonds sent by Joseph Stalin; a Steuben
glass Bowl of Legends designed by Sidney Waugh and sent by U.S.
President andMrs. Truman; and silver Georgian candlesticks from King
George VI and Queen Elizabeth. The 2,000 guests included Aga Khan III.
The ceremony was decorated with 1.5 tonnes of orchids, tulips and
carnations, sent by plane from the Netherlands. Entertainment included an
equestrian circus from Rome.The bride wore a silver lamé gown studded
with pearls and trimmed with marabou stork feathers,designed for the
occasion by Christian Dior. She also wore a full-length female white-mink
cape.
Infertility and divorce
Though the wedding took place during a heavy snow, deemed a good
omen, the imperial couple's marriage had disintegrated by early 1958
owing to Soraya's apparent infertility, for which she had sought treatment
in Switzerland and France, and the Shah's suggestion that he take a
second wife in order to produce an heir. She left Iran in February and

2. eventually went to her parents' home in Cologne, Germany, where the
Shah sent his wife's uncle, Senator Sardar Assad Bakhtiari in early March
1958, in a failed attempt to convince her to return to Iran. On 10 March, a
council of advisors met with the Shah to discuss the situation of the
troubled marriage and the lack of an heir. Four days later, it was
announced that the imperial couple would divorce. It was, the 25-year-old
queen said, "a sacrifice of my own happiness." She later told reporters that
her husband had no choice but to divorce her.
On 21 March 1958, the Iranian New Year's Day, a weeping Shah
announced his divorce to the Iranian people in a speech that was
broadcast on radio and television; he said that he would not remarry in
haste. The headline-making divorce inspired French writer Françoise
Mallet-Joris to write a hit pop song, Je veux pleurer comme Soraya (I
Want to Cry Like Soraya). The marriage was officially ended on 6 April
1958.
According to a report in The New York Times, extensive negotiations had
preceded the divorce in order to convince Queen Soraya to allow her
husband to take a second wife. The Queen, however, citing what she
called the "sanctity of marriage", stated that "she could not accept the idea
of sharing her husband's love with another woman."
In a statement issued to the Iranian people from her parents' home in
Germany, Soraya said, "Since His Imperial Majesty Mohammad Reza
Shah Pahlavi has deemed it necessary that a successor to the throne
must be of direct descent in the male line from generation to generation to
generation, I will with my deepest regret in the interest of the future of the
State and of the welfare of the people in accordance with the desire of His
Majesty the Emperor sacrifice my own happiness, and I will declare my
consent to a separation from His Imperial Majesty."
After the divorce, the Shah, who had told a reporter who asked about his
feelings for the former Queen that "nobody can carry a torch longer than
me", indicated his interest in marrying Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy,
a daughter of the deposed Italian king Umberto II. In an editorial about the
rumors surrounding the marriage of "a Muslim sovereign and a Catholic
princess", the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, considered the
match "a grave danger".
Career as actress
Granted the royal title Princess of Iran after her divorce, she moved to
France.
Princess Soraya launched a brief career as a film actress, for which she
used only her first name. Initially, it was announced that she would
portrayCatherine the Great in a movie about the Russian empress by Dino
De Laurentiis, but that project fell through. Instead, she starred in the 1965
movieI tre volti (The Three Faces). and became the companion of its

3. Italian director, Franco Indovina (1932–72). She also appeared as a
character named Soraya in the 1965 movie She.
After Indovina's death in a plane crash, she spent the remainder of her life
in Europe, succumbing to depression, which she outlined in her 1991
memoir,Le Palais Des Solitudes (The Palace of Loneliness).
Later years in Paris
During her last years Princess Soraya lived in Paris on 46 avenue
Montaigne. She occasionally attended social events like the parties given
by theDuchess de La Rochefoucault. Her friend and event organizer
Massimo Gargia tried to cheer her up and make her meet young people.
Princess Soraya was known to have taken Internet Lessons at the
Cybercafe de Paris (now Cremerie de Paris). She was a regular client of
the hairdresser Alexandre Zouari. She also enjoyed going to the Bar and
the Lobby of the Hotel Plaza Athénée located opposite her apartment.
She was often accompanied by her former lady-in-waiting and loyal friend
Madame Firouzabadian Chamrizad. Another friend was the Parisian
socialite, Lily Claire Sarran.
Princess Soraya did not communicate with the Shah's third wife Farah
Diba, even when both of them lived in Paris.
Death
Princess Soraya died on 26 October 2001 (which would have been the
82nd birthday of the Shah) of undisclosed causes in her apartment in
Paris, France; she was 69. Upon learning of her death, her younger
brother, Bijan (1937–2001) (who died in Paris one week after Soraya),
sadly commented, "After her, I don't have anyone to talk to."
After a funeral at the American Cathedral in Paris on 6 November 2001 –
which was attended by Princess Ashraf Pahlavi, Prince Gholam Reza
Pahlavi, the Count and Countess of Paris, thePrince and Princess of
Naples, Prince Michel of Orléans, and Princess Ira von Fürstenberg – she
was buried in the Westfriedhof, a cemetery in Munich, Germany, along
with her parents and brother.
Since Soraya's death, several women have come forward claiming to be
her illegitimate daughter, reportedly born in 1962, according to the
Persian-language weekly Nimrooz; the claims have not been confirmed.
The newspaper also published an article in 2001 which suggested, without
proof, that Princess Soraya and her brother had been murdered.
The former queen's belongings were sold at auction in Paris after her
death, for more than $8.3 million. Her Dior wedding dress brought
$1.2 million.