Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary
Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary 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. 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.
Soraya in 1953
Soraya in childhood with her mother, c. 1935
Queen Soraya in 1956
Soraya and the Shah in 1953
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, commonly referred to in the Western world as Mohammad Reza Shah, or just simply The Shah, was the last monarch of Iran. He began ruling the Imperial State of Iran after succeeding his father Reza Shah in 1941 and remained in power until he was overthrown by the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which abolished the country's monarchy and established the Islamic Republic of Iran. In 1967, he took up the title Shahanshah and held several others, including Aryamehr and Bozorg Arteshtaran.
Formal portrait, 1973
Mohammad Reza in 1930
Crown Prince Mohammad Reza in 1939
Young Shah With his twin sister, Ashraf, in the 1940s