Queen Fawzia of Iran

[salma]

All pics from British Pathe:

Queen Fawzia, then Princess, in Egypt.

[salma]

Princess Shahnaz (daughter of Sha and Empress Fawzia) with Prince Shahram, eldest son of Princess Ashraf.

Pic from memoirs of Princess Ashraf

[pdas1201]

Empress Fawzia

She looks like Janet Leigh in the first pic

[pdas1201]

1. Princess Fawzia (2nd from R) with her siblings and her mother, Queen Nazli.
2. Fawzia (center) with her mother Nazli (left) and her sister-in-law Farida (right)

[cute_girl]

1-3. some portraits of princess Fawzia
4. with daughter princess Shahnaz
5. with princess Shams(shah's sister) and her second husband

[pdas1201]

1. Fawzia (R) with her sisters and mother in 1939.
2 & 3. Princess Fawzia with her husband Shah Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi and daughter, Shahnaz
4. The couple on their honeymoon
5. Imperial Marriage

[EmpressRouge]

Something I've noticed: in almost every article written Fawzia and the Shah , it always seems to cite lack of a male heir as the reason for their divorce. However, I would think otherwise. Yes, she was did not give birth to a son, but she later remarried and had more children, clearly indicating that she was not past child bearing days and could clearly produce more children. It was well known that it was an arranged marriage and Fawzia hated the Iranian court and longed to return to Egypt. I was reading that when the Iranian ambassador came with loads of crown jewels to offer her marriage, Fawzia looked down upon the jewels. IMO, they were a mismatched couple from the beginning whose marriage was troubled, and the lack of male heir was just an excuse. Luckily they found other loves (well, maybe not for the Shah and Soraya).

[Queen Malka]

They were mismatched, but according to Princess Ashraf's bio, she claims that both couples were smitten with each other in the begining and was certain that they were head over heels. But Fawzia often complained of the modest lifestyle of Pahlavis, and was often bored. It was a few years later, close to the time of King Faroukh's coup that both royal families had a feud (Partially because Ashraf passed on Faroukh's sexual advances) and with Faroukh's insistence, Fawzia's trips to Egypt seemed longer and longer, until one day (contrary to popular belief) she asked for a divorce.
So it was never the issue of an heir, as most sources claim, but simply a matter of family honor and pride. But yes, they did find other loves.

[cute_girl]

Originally Posted by EmpressRouge

Something I've noticed:

I've never heard of lack of a male heir as a reason of the divorce,instead everywhere I've read that it was Ashraf who played a big role in the matter.she had a lover who was from a low class family and Fawzia used to scorn her on that,Ashraf also revealed or made up some stories about her brother being a homosexual or sth like that,the two had so many faightings,even physically.it is said that Ashrf was jealous of her because Fawzia was pretty and a queen to be but Ashraf with all the efforts was ugly and hadnt managed to get a husband from a royal family.

[EmpressRouge]

I think Ashraf also had similar jealousy problems with Soraya too.

[cute_girl]

Originally Posted by EmpressRouge

I think Ashraf also had similar jealousy problems with Soraya too.

it is true,and again about Fawzia I forgot to say that one the king's best Freinds Who's name was Ernest(he was from switzerland)put an end to Fawzia and king's marriage by revealing to her that the king had an affair with another woman.

[EmpressRouge]

Anyone hear of the rumor that the Shah had a brief affair with Grace Kelly? I'm not sure if this is true, but the story has turned up in at least two biographies of Princess Grace. One, Robert Lacey's Grace, mentions it briefly as one of the numerous dalliances Grace had before her marriage to Rainier. Another book, The Bridesmaids, by Judy Quine, Grace's friend and bridesmaid. In that book, Quine says that after her engagement, Grace gave Quine a piece of jewelry (a pin of a bird w/ a cage, I think) implying that the piece had been given to her by a former lover. Quine did not know at the time who the person was and eventually lost the pin. She only knew of its significance after reading a intimate biography of her famous friend. If the Shah and Grace did indeed have an affair, it would have been very brief and probably during her early Hollywood days, but that would make it around the time of his marriage to Soraya (Gasp!).

[Queen Malka]

Yes, infact in ALL of Grace Kelly Bios, they mention an affair with the Shah. But another source ( forget where) the Shah kept it strictly an affair because he knew that Iran would accept a westerner as their queen (there were exceptions for Fawzia and Soraya because they were Muslim, Grace however was not.

But thankfully, the beautiful Grace married Rainier otherwise who would have known what could have happened to her during the revolution?

[EmpressRouge]

Yay, I knew I wasn't dillusional. Do you know when they say the affair happened? I'm pretty sure it happened after Grace came to Hollywood, but was it before or after the Shah's marriage to Soraya?

[Queen Malka]

As far as I'm concerned it was after his divorce to Soraya,when it was rumoured that he was anxious to re-marry and Grace caught his eye during the shooting of one of her films. He presented Grace with a dazzling diamond set, in which Grace's mother immediately asked that she return it to him because that was a sign (according to her mother) that she was agreeing to marry him. Now I don't know if you know this or not, but after becomming a sucessful actress Grace was really fed up with the lifestyle, and wanted to settle down with a husband and children. So she was just as eager as the shah to marry.

[EmpressRouge]

I don't believe it happened after his divorce from Soraya because they divorced in 1958, and Grace had already married Rainier in 1956.

[cute_girl]

I looked in two biogaphies of shah,one them written by his best freind which is the most reliable source says that shah started an affair with Grace Kelly but ended it soon after he met Princess Maria Gabriella,Grace was so unhappy about the break up so shah gave her jewels which cost about 1 million dollars.

and I forgot to add that the whole affair was before marrying Soraya.

[EmpressRouge]

Originally Posted by cute_girl

and I forgot to add that the whole affair was before marrying Soraya.

Hmm, so that means the affair would have probably happened in or before 1950. Grace would have still been an unknown 20 or 21 year-old model/actress at the time.

[cute_girl]

Originally Posted by EmpressRouge

Hmm, so that means the affair would have probably happened in or before 1950. Grace would have still been an unknown 20 or 21 year-old model/actress at the time.

certainly,otherwaise she wouldnt get unhappy about the break up.

[hilal]

Queen Fawzia of Iran.