High Society gathered to celebrate the Wedding of the Shah of Iran and Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari at the Marble Palace in Tehran on this day in 1951, 75 years ago, the second marriage for the Shah which ended in divorce in 1958.
The Shah of Iran married Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari at the Marble Palace in Tehran.
The wedding was as much a fairy tale as it appeared. The ceremony, originally scheduled for December 27th, had to be postponed when Soraya came down with a serious case of typhoid fever. She still wasn’t entirely well in February but further postponement wasn’t possible, so she had to soldier on.
In the evening following the Wedding Ceremony, the Shah of Iran and Queen Soraya held a magnificent Banquet at the Golestan Palace in Tehran, which was attended by the Imperial Family as well as the Aga Khan III and Begum Om Habibeh Aga Khan.
Queen Soraya wore a massive Dior Gown with an Emerald Tiara and Necklace from the Iranian Crown Jewels.
Soraya’s Christian Dior gown is quite possibly the most couture couture gown ever seen at a royal wedding; it’s just utterly, unabashedly over the top. Made of 37 yards of silver lamé studded with pearls, 6,000 diamond pieces, and 20,000 marabou feathers, the creation weighed a whopping 44 pounds (20 kilograms).
The strapless dress came with a matching jacket and veil for the ceremony itself as well as a full-length white mink cape to keep the bride warm. In the evening, both jacket and veil were discarded and an emerald and diamond parure from the crown jewels was added.
The bride could barely move in her heavy gown. Seeing her stagger, the Shah ordered a lady-in-waiting to take a pair of scissors to the priceless gown and cut the petticoats and train until she could walk again. She also had to deal with the chill in the non-heated palace; there were wool socks underneath that voluminous skirt.
This was the Shah’s second marriage, after his marriage to Princess Fawzia of Egypt, which tearfully ended in divorce seven years later due to lack of children, and ahead of his marriage to Farah Diba. 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”.
Emerald Tiara
Diamond Tiara
Ruby Earrings
Harry Winston Diamond Necklace
Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi’s Emerald Tiara
Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi’s Diamond Tiara
Princess Shams Pahlavi’s Diamond Tiara
Queen Fawzia’s Van Cleef & Arpels Tiara
Empress Farah’s Seven Emerald Tiara
Princess Soraya’s Emerald Tiara
Empress Farah’s Art Deco Diamond Tiara
Empress Farah’s Turquoise Tiara
