Saed News: Below, you can watch a video and see images from the wedding ceremony of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi with his second wife, Soraya Esfandiary.
Saed News Historical Service reports that Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari (June 22, 1932 – October 26, 2001) was the wife of Mohammad Reza Shah from 1950 to 1957. She was the second wife of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. She was the daughter of Khalil Khan Esfandiary and granddaughter of Esfandiar Khan Sardar Asad. Soraya was born on June 22, 1932, into a prominent Bakhtiari family in Isfahan. She had a younger brother and sister named Bijan and Laya. Soraya lived in Iran until she was eight months old, after which her family took her to Berlin due to poor health conditions in Iran and the spread of smallpox, to protect her from the disease.
She spent her childhood in Berlin and returned to Iran with her family in the fall of 1937. In Isfahan, she attended the German school for residents and learned Persian from a private tutor. She studied there until 1941, but after Iran was occupied during World War II, the German schools were closed. In 1944, she entered an English missionary school and continued her education there until she was fifteen. In 1947, she moved with her family to Switzerland, where she learned French and later improved her English at an institute in London. Soraya was fluent in German, Persian, English, and French, and her beauty attracted the Shah’s attention. She was also called the princess with emerald eyes.
Soraya’s selection as Mohammad Reza’s wife was arranged by the Shah’s older sister, Shams. Shams met Soraya at a party at the Iranian Embassy in London and immediately liked her, then discussed the matter with Khalil Khan Esfandiary. Soraya came to Tehran prepared to meet the Shah. In her memoirs, she wrote that before becoming the queen of Iran, her greatest dream was to become a movie actress. Before her first meeting with the Shah at the royal palace, she had made a deal with her father that if the Shah didn’t like her or if she didn’t like him, she would be sent to Hollywood.
However, like his sister, the Shah liked her at first sight, and Soraya also agreed to the marriage. Their engagement ceremony was set for December 27, 1950. They hoped to marry soon, but Soraya suddenly fell ill with typhoid fever, which worsened day by day and caused great concern. The wedding was postponed. After her recovery, the marriage ceremony was held on February 12, 1952.
A historic photo of Soraya Esfandiary’s wedding dress, the second wife of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last king of Iran, has circulated on social media, showcasing its grandeur.
This photo, taken in 1951 in Paris, shows French tailors working on Soraya’s elaborate wedding gown.
It is said that the dress weighed 30 kilograms, and Soraya had difficulty walking on her wedding day.
For the wedding ceremony, Soraya wore a Juliet cap, which was very fashionable at the time. It is said this cap was decorated with jewels, though no documented evidence has been found.
After the ceremony, for the party and dinner, Soraya wore an emerald jewelry set, including a tiara, necklace, earrings, ring, and brooch. Many believe this set was made for Soraya Esfandiary, though this is not true for all pieces.
There is limited information about the earrings and brooch, but the necklace and tiara were already part of the National Jewelry Treasury.
The Necklace Soraya Wore on Her Wedding Day
Contrary to popular belief, this necklace was not made specifically for her. It was part of the Iranian National Jewelry Treasury before.
In 1968, a team from the Royal Ontario Museum of Canada came to Iran to study and research the treasury’s jewels. The results were published in a book titled Royal Jewelry of Iran. The information about this necklace is based on that publication.
The necklace is made from a combination of silver, gold, emeralds, and diamonds. It dates back to the 19th century (13th century in the Iranian calendar). This necklace belonged to Qamar al-Saltaneh, the 46th daughter of Fath Ali Shah. According to documents, only high-ranking royal women were permitted to wear this necklace. Shokuh al-Saltaneh, one of Naser al-Din Shah’s wives and mother of Mozaffar al-Din Shah, also wore it. Later, Soraya Esfandiary wore this necklace on her wedding day.
