Aly Khan

Diplomat

Birthday June 13, 1911

Birth Sign Gemini

Birthplace Turin, Italy

DEATH DATE 1960-5-12, Suresnes, France (48 years old)

Nationality Italy

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1908

Aly Khan was named co-respondent in the Guinness v Guinness and Khan divorce suit between Joan Barbara Guinness (née Yarde-Buller, 1908–1997; daughter of John Reginald Lopes Yarde-Buller, 3rd Baron Churston), and Group Captain Thomas Loel Guinness MP, a scion of the Guinness Brewery family.

1911

Prince Ali Salman Aga Khan (13 June 1911 – 12 May 1960), known as Aly Khan, was a socialite and ambassador for Pakistan.

He was the son of the Aga Khan III, and the father of Aga Khan IV.

A socialite, racehorse owner and jockey, he was the third husband of actress Rita Hayworth.

He had two brothers: Prince Giuseppe Mahdi Aga Khan (who died in 1911) and, by his father's third marriage, Sadruddin Aga Khan.

Aly Khan was educated by private tutors in India and France during his childhood.

He later trained in England as a lawyer.

As a 12-year-old boy, he knew Orson Welles.

Years later, both of them were husbands of Rita Hayworth.

1935

In 1935, Guinness sued for divorce, naming Aly Khan as the "third party", he cited as evidence that his wife and Aly Khan had occupied a hotel room together from 17 May until 20 May 1935, and that his wife had told him that she "had formed an attachment for (Aly Khan) and desired her husband to divorce her".

The case was uncontested, and Aly Khan was ordered to pay all costs.

1936

Aly Khan and Joan Barbara Guinness were married in Paris on 18 May 1936, a few days after Joan Guinness's divorce became absolute.

Before the wedding, the bride converted to Islam and took the name Taj-ud-dawlah or "crown of the realm".

The couple's first child, Prince Karim, was born in Geneva seven months later, on 13 December 1936, and is said to have been a premature child.

The couple also had a second son, Prince Amyn Muhammad Aga Khan, who was also born premature at seven months the following year.

Joan Barbara also had a son by her previous marriage, Patrick Guinness.

1938

The titles of prince and princess, which are claimed by children of the Aga Khan by virtue of their descent from the Qajar king Fath Ali Shah of the Persian Qajar dynasty, were recognized as courtesy titles by the British government in 1938.

Aly Khan was born in Turin, Italy, the younger son and only surviving child of the Aga Khan III and Cleope Teresa "Ginetta" Magliano.

His father was born in Karachi, British India (now in modern-day Pakistan).

His mother was Italian.

His paternal grandparents were born in Iran.

1939

In 1939, Prince Aly Aga Khan joined the French Foreign Legion and served with its cavalry division in Egypt and the Middle East.

1940

In 1940, he joined the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry, becoming a lieutenant colonel in 1944.

1949

Aly Khan and Joan Barbara were divorced in 1949, in part due to his extramarital affairs with, among others, Pamela Churchill.

After the divorce, Joan Barbara became the longtime mistress and eventual wife of the newspaper magnate Seymour Berry, 2nd Viscount Camrose.

Aly Khan married American actress Rita Hayworth within weeks of his divorce.

On 27 May (civil) and 28 May (religious) 1949, in Cannes, France, Aly Khan married American film star Rita Hayworth, who left her film career to marry him.

1950

That same year, he participated in the Allied landing in the south of France with the United States Seventh Army, serving as a liaison officer with the rank of captain; for this, he was made an officer in the Legion of Honour in 1950.

He also was awarded the Croix de Guerre and the United States Bronze Star Medal.

1956

Prince Aly Khan was installed as the 1st Colonel of the Regiment of the newly raised 4 Cavalry Regiment (1 November 1956), Pakistani Army in a military ceremony during 1957 and he retained this honor until his death.

1957

In November 1957 Aly Khan met President Iskander Mirza of Pakistan and was offered a post as the country's Ambassador to the United Nations.

1958

After being passed over for succession as Aga Khan, he served as the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations from 1958 to 1960, where he became a vice president of the General Assembly.

His first name was typically spelled "Aly" in the press.

The formal announcement of the appointment was made on 6 February 1958.

As a member of the United Nations Political and Security Committee representing Pakistan, Aly Khan's brief U.N. posting was viewed with surprise by many observers, some of whom considered him "the Asian-African answer to Irene Dunne", an American movie star not known for her political skills; Dunne had recently been designated a member of the United States delegation at General Assembly, largely in recognition of her Republican fundraising efforts.

He was elected as vice president of the United Nations General Assembly on 17 September 1958 and also served as chairman of the U.N.'s Peace Observation Committee.

Prince Aly Khan was famously a man-about-town in his youth.

"I had been involved with several women", he gamely told a reporter when asked about his life.

His list of affairs included high-profile lovers such as the British debutante Margaret Whigham, later Duchess of Argyll, Thelma, Viscountess Furness, an American who was simultaneously involved with the Prince of Wales, British entertainer Joyce Grenfell and British socialite and hostess Pat Marlowe.

Of his first wife, he remarked, "I was tired of trouble. Joan was a sane and solid girl, and I thought if I married her, I would stay out of trouble."