Wedding of the Shah of Iran and Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari

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The Wedding of the Shah of Iran and Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari (wearing her Emerald Tiara and Parure with her massive Dior couture gown) at the Golestan Palace in Tehran on this day in 1951. This was the Shah’s second marriage, which tearfully ended in divorce seven years later due to lack of children. He remarried to Farah Diba in 1959, a match that produced four children. Queen Soraya, demoted to Princess, lived in Europe, becoming an actress, and writing her memoir, but never remarried and was always known as the “princess with the sad eyes”.

3 thoughts on “Wedding of the Shah of Iran and Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari

  1. Such an interesting contrast between the rather plain and prosaic home the Princess leaves from to be married and the opulence of the other photos. Her gown is like a huge meringue. It’s a sad story.

    1. Yes, her dress was quite excessive and it is a sad story indeed. She was pitied the world over, as I remember even my mother remarking on it when I was a little girl living in the Caribbean.

      It contrasts heavily with Queen Fabiola’s story, doesn’t it. Of course, it’s a different country with different customs and duties, but my mother loved King Baudouin for not abandoning his wife in spite of the lack of an heir. She always said he was a faithful and loyal gentleman. No wonder even Queen Elizabeth II attended his funeral. He was a righteous man.

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