Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari

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Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari bigraphy, stories - Persian queen consort

Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari : biography

22 June 1932 – 26 June 2001

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, King of Iran with Queen Soraya on their wedding day

Princess Soraya of Iran (born Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari , UniPers: Sorayâ Asfandiyâri-Bakhtiyâri; 22 June 1932 – 26 October 2001) was Queen of Iran as the second wife of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran.

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, the Prince 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.

Grave of Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari in Munich

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.

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.Iran Shah Divorces His Childless Queen, The New York Times, 14 March 1958, p. 2. She left Iran in February and 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.Shah’s Plea to Queen Held Vain, The New York Times, 6 March 1958, p. 3. 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.Iran Decision Pending, The New York Times, 11 March 1958, p. 2. 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."Queen of Iran Accepts Divorce As Sacrifice, The New York Times, 15 March 1958, p. 4. She later told reporters that her husband had no choice but to divorce her.Soraya Arrives for U.S. Holiday, The New York Times, 23 April 1958, p. 35.

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 [sic] 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."