Princess Soraya

Soraya was the elder child and only daughter of Khalil Esfandiary-Bakhtiary (1901–1983), a Bakhtiari nobleman and Iranian ambassador to West Germany in the 1950s, and his Russian-born German wife Eva Karl (1906–1994).

Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary (22 June 1932 – 25 October 2001) was Queen of Iran as the second wife of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, whom she married in 1951.

Their marriage suffered many pressures, particularly when it became clear that she was infertile.

She rejected the Shah's suggestion that he might take a second wife in order to produce an heir, as he rejected her suggestion that he might abdicate in favor of his half-brother.

She was born in the English Missionary Hospital in Isfahan on 22 June 1932.

She had one sibling, a younger brother, Bijan (1937–2001).

Her family had long been involved in the Iranian government and diplomatic corps.

An uncle, Sardar Assad, was a leader in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of the early 20th century.

Soraya was raised in Berlin and Isfahan, and educated in London and Switzerland.

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.

Originally the couple had planned to wed on 27 December 1950, but the ceremony was postponed due to the bride being ill.

Although the Shah announced that guests should donate money to a special charity for the Iranian poor, among the wedding gifts were 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 President of the United States, Harry S. Truman and Mrs. 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.

Of all the Shah's many women, it is generally believed that Soraya was the "true love" of his life as she was the one he loved the most.

Soraya later wrote about herself and Iran: "I was a dunce. I knew next to nothing of the geography, the legends of my country; nothing of its history, nothing of the Muslim religion".

Soraya's upbringing had been entirely German and Catholic, which left her with a mixed identity, and made her the object of much distrust in Iran with Muslim clerics saying the Shah should not marry this "half-European girl" who was not raised a Muslim.

Soraya wrote: "The feeling of being both Christian and Muslim, but at the same time of being neither one nor the other has engraved in my flesh two divergent poles between which my existence has unfolded. The one is methodically European, the other savagely Persian".

Following the marriage, Soraya headed the family charity in Iran.

Soraya's marriage was troubled as Mohammad Reza's mother and sisters all saw her as a rival for his love just as they had with his first wife Princess Fawzia of Egypt, and continually snubbed and inflicted petty humiliations on her.

Soraya hated Ernest Perron, the Shah's best friend and private secretary.

Soraya called Perron a "homosexual who detested women, all women" and who "spread poison around the palace as well as our own quarters".

She wrote that Perron was a "cunning, perfidious and Machiavellian" man who "roused hatred, stirred gossip, reveled in every intrigue".

Much to her disgust, Mohammad Reza was "fascinated with this diabolical Swiss" who professed to be a "philosopher, poet, and a prophet"; the two men met every morning to discuss all the affairs of state in French as Perron was the man whose advice the Shah valued the most, and, as Soraya soon learned, other matters were discussed as well.

Much to her revulsion, Perron visited her and made a series of what she called very "lewd" remarks and vulgar questions about her sex life with the Shah, which led her to throw him out of the Marble Palace in her fury.

During the confrontation with Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh of the left-wing National Front, Mohammad Reza was often depressed, being in her words "somber and distressed" to the extent he even stopped playing poker with his friends, which had been one of his main passions.

She stated that only sex could lift Mohammad Reza out of his depression, and she often invited the Shah into her bed to keep his spirits up.

Several times, Soraya advised Mohammad Reza "to screw up his courage to the sticking point".

Soraya married the Shah at Marble Palace, Tehran, on 12 February 1951.

In August 1953, Soraya followed the Shah when he fled to Rome, and complained the Iranian ambassador to Italy failed to arrange for a place for them to stay while the royal couple were constantly harassed by the paparazzi.

On 19 August 1953, Soraya remembered how a glum Mohammad Reza was talking about moving to the United States when he received a telegram announcing that Mosaddegh had been overthrown, leading him to shout with joy.

After the 1953 coup overthrew Mosaddegh, the Shah's spirits picked up.

One of Mohammad Reza and Soraya's favorite activities was masked balls, although Soraya complained the Shah always wore a lion costume (the symbol of royalty) while her attempts to appear as Madame de Pompadour were vetoed under grounds this was inappropriate for a queen, and she was forced to appear as Joan of Arc instead.

About her husband, Soraya always praised him when he displayed "European" personality traits while criticizing him for "Oriental" behavior.

In March 1958, their divorce was announced.

After a brief career as an actress, and a liaison with Italian film director Franco Indovina, Soraya lived alone in Paris until her death.