Shahbanu Soraya of Iran , born Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari, was Shahbanu
(Empress) of Iran, the second wife of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of
Iran, and an actress. She was nicknamed as "Emerald Eyed Shahbanu of Iran".
Granted the royal title Princess of Iran after her divorce, she moved to
France. Soraya was the elder child and only daughter of Khalil
Esfandiary-Bakhtiary a Bakhtiary nobleman and Iranian ambassador to West
Germany in the 1950s, and his German wife Eva Karl. She was born in the
English Missionary Hospital in Isfahan (Farsan) on 22 June 1932. She had one
sibling, a younger brother, Bijan. 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.In 1948,
Soraya was introduced to the recently divorced Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, by
Forough Zafar Bakhtiary, a close relative of Soraya's, via a photograph taken
by Goodarz Bakhtiary, in London, per Forough Zafar's request. At the time
Soraya had completed high school at a Swiss finishing school and was studying
the English language in London.They were soon engaged: the Shah gave her a
22.37 carat (4.474 g) diamond engagement ring.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.
