SAEDNEWS: An Excerpt from Soraya Esfandiary’s Memoirs About the Elder Sister of the Pahlavi Shah
According to the historical section of Saed News, Soraya Esfandiary, daughter of Khalil Khan Bakhtiari and Eva Karl, married Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1950 and divorced him in 1958. In her memoir, written after her separation from the Shah, she describes her childhood, her life with the Shah, and her circumstances after the divorce. Below is a short excerpt from her memoirs related to the beginning of her acquaintance and marriage with Mohammad Reza Pahlavi:
Quoted from Faradeed… my photographs had been sent to Tehran; a few days later, Shams, the elder sister of Mohammad Reza, arrived in London with her husband… they invited us to dinner. Shams Pahlavi was a delicate young woman, about 33 years old; she appeared kind and beautiful, and from the beginning we got along well.
During dinner she said to me: “Miss Esfandiary, I have heard that you will soon be coming to Tehran with your father. Would it be possible to spend a few days in Paris before leaving? Afterwards, we could fly to Tehran together.” Before she said more, I accepted her invitation. What else could a sixteen-year-old girl in my situation do?
In Paris, we stayed at the Crillon Hotel. Our conversations mostly revolved around clothes and dogs. Shams had a deep love for dogs. Many people remarked that she seemed to love her fluffy dogs more than her own children.
One morning, she began talking about her brother, explaining why he was still unmarried, and then continued: “It would of course be better if a young woman like you were willing and interested in marrying Mohammad Reza.” My heart was beating very fast at that moment, but nothing official had been proposed yet—the suggestion was made indirectly…
I laughed instead of giving any answer. I thought this was the best reaction, as I did not want to say or do anything that might create problems for me… therefore, in that situation I could not make any promises to anyone, even if he were the King of Iran. Shams also laughed with me. She must have thought she had just made her first move toward her goal.
