Иран патшайымы Сорая Эсфандияри Бахтияри

Queen of Iran from 1951 to 1958

Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiary (ثریا اسفندیاری بختیاری; 22 June 1932 – 25 October 2001) 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 was the elder child and only daughter of Khalil Esfandiary Bakhtiary (1901–1983), a Bakhtiari nobleman and Iranian ambassador to West Germany in the 1950s, and his Russian born German wife Eva Karl (1906–1994). She was born in the English Missionary Hospital in Isfahan on 22 June 1932. She had one sibling, a younger brother, Bijan (1937–2001). Her family had long been involved in the Iranian government and diplomatic corps. An uncle, Sardar Assad, was a leader in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of the early 20th century. Soraya was raised in Berlin and Isfahan, and educated in London and Switzerland. Soraya married the Shah at Marble Palace, Tehran, on 12 February 1951. Originally the couple had planned to wed on 27 December 1950, but the ceremony was postponed due to the bride being ill. Although the Shah announced that guests should donate money to a special charity for the Iranian poor, among the wedding gifts were a mink coat and a desk set with black diamonds sent by Joseph Stalin; a Steuben glass Bowl of Legends designed by Sidney Waugh and sent by President of the United States, Harry S. Truman and Mrs. Truman; and silver Georgian candlesticks from King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. The 2,000 guests included Aga Khan III. The ceremony was decorated with 1.5 tonnes of orchids, tulips and carnations, sent by plane from the Netherlands. Entertainment included an equestrian circus from Rome. The bride wore a silver lamé gown studded with pearls and trimmed with marabou stork feathers, designed for the occasion by Christian Dior. Of all the Shah's many women, it is generally believed that Soraya was the "true love" of his life as she was the one he loved the most. Soraya's upbringing had been entirely German and Catholic, which left her with a mixed identity, and made her the object of much distrust in Iran with Muslim clerics saying the Shah should not marry this "half European girl" who was not raised a Muslim. Soraya's marriage was troubled as Mohammad Reza's mother and sisters all saw her as a rival for his love just as they had with his first wife Princess Fawzia of Egypt, and continually snubbed and inflicted petty humiliations on her. Soraya hated Ernest Perron, the Shah's best friend and private secretary. On 19 August 1953, Soraya remembered how a glum Mohammad Reza was talking about moving to the United States when he received a telegram announcing that Mosaddegh had been overthrown, leading him to shout with joy. After the 1953 coup overthrew Mosaddegh, the Shah's spirits picked up. In 1954 55, the Imperial couple paid a lengthy visit to the United States, leaving on 5 December 1954. During her time in Los Angeles, Soraya met her favorite stars who were Grace Kelly, Lauren Bacall, Bob Hope, Esther Williams, and Humphrey Bogart. In London, Mohammad Reza and Soraya had dinner at Buckingham Palace with Queen Elizabeth II; Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; the Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill and the Foreign Secretary Sir Anthony Eden. The Shah told Soraya that "a Zahedi could not continue the dynasty of the Pahlavis", and that she had to give him a son so the House of Pahlavi could continue. She had sought treatment in Switzerland and France, and in St. Louis with Dr. William Masters. The Shah suggested that he take a second wife to produce an heir, but she rejected that option. In an attempt to save her position as Queen, Soraya told the Shah that he should change the constitution of 1909 to allow one of his half brothers to succeed him, which Mohammad Reza told her would require "the approval of the Council of the Wise Men" first. Soraya rejected the offer that she remain queen while the Shah would take a second wife, writing in her memoirs that Mohammad Reza was "fundamentally an Oriental", drawing an unfavorable contrast with the Duke of Windsor "who sacrificed his throne for love", writing that only "Orientals" sacrificed love for their thrones. On 10 March, a council of advisers met with the Shah to discuss the situation of the troubled marriage and the lack of an heir. Four days later, it was announced that the imperial couple would divorce. In a press statement issued by the Iranian government, it was announced that Soraya had agreed to the divorce while Soraya later claimed she had last heard from her husband on 5 March and she had not been informed beforehand. She later told reporters that her husband had no choice but to divorce her. The British Ambassador to Iran reported "Soraya was the Shah's only true love" and he was "a man at an emotional cross roads", who was happy to be able to marry again while unable to "bring himself to face it" that he had just divorced Soraya.

After her divorce, Soraya was in a relationship with the director Maximilian Schell and the industrial heir Gunter Sachs and also lived briefly in Munich. Later Soraya moved to France. She launched a brief career as a film actress, for which she used only her first name. Initially, it was announced that she would portray Catherine the Great in a movie about the Russian empress by Dino De Laurentiis, but that project fell through. Instead, she starred in the 1965 movie I tre volti (The Three Faces) and became the companion of its Italian director, Franco Indovina (1932–72). She appeared as a character named Soraya in the 1965 movie She. After Indovina's death in a plane crash, she spent the remainder of her life in Europe, succumbing to depression, which she outlined in her 1991 memoir, Le Palais des solitudes (The Palace of Loneliness).

During her last years, Soraya lived in Paris on 46 avenue Montaigne. She occasionally attended social events like the parties given by the Duchess de La Rochefoucauld. Her friend and event organizer Massimo Gargia tried to cheer her up and make her meet young people. Soraya was a regular client of the hairdresser Alexandre Zouari. She also enjoyed going to the bar and the lobby of the Hotel Plaza Athénée located opposite her apartment. She was often accompanied by her former lady in waiting and loyal friend Madame Chamrizad Firouzabadian. Another friend was Parisian socialite Lily Claire Sarran. In 1979, Soraya wrote to Mohammad Reza as he was dying of cancer in Panama, saying she still loved him and wanted to see him one last time. In 1980, it was agreed that Soraya would visit Mohammad Reza in Cairo, but he died before she could make the trip, which led Milani to comment that Mohammad Reza and Soraya were true "star crossed lovers". Upon learning of her death, her younger brother, Bijan, sadly commented, "After her, I don't have anyone to talk to." Bijan died one week later. Since her death, several women have come forward claiming to be her illegitimate daughter, reportedly born in 1962. According to the Persian language weekly Nimrooz none of the claims have been confirmed. The newspaper also published an article in 2001 which suggested, without proof, that Princess Soraya and her brother had been murdered. Her belongings were sold at auction in Paris in 2002, for more than $8.3 million.

Princess Soraya wrote two memoirs. The first, published in 1964 and published in the United States by Doubleday, was Princess Soraya: Autobiography of Her Imperial Highness. A decade before her death, she and a collaborator, Louis Valentin, wrote another memoir in French, Le Palais des solitudes (Paris: France Loisirs/Michel Laffon, 1991), which was translated into English as Palace of Solitude (London: Quartet Books Ltd, 1992); .

Soraya's divorce from the Shah inspired French songwriter Francoise Mallet Jorris to write "Je veux pleurer comme Soraya" (I Want to Cry Like Soraya). An Italian/German television movie about the princess's life, lt=Soraya (a. k. a. Sad Princess), was broadcast in 2003, starring Anna Valle as Soraya and Erol Sander as the Shah. French actress Mathilda May appeared as the Shah's sister, Princess Shams Pahlavi.