On 12 February 1951, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi married his second wife, Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary.
They were introduced to each other in 1948 and became engaged shortly thereafter. He had previously been married to Princess Fawzia of Egypt, but their marriage had produced just one child – a daughter named Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi. They were officially divorced on 17 November 1948.
Soraya and the Shah originally planned their wedding for 27 December 1950, but Soraya fell ill and it had to be postponed.
As the wedding day came, around 2,000 guests descended on Tehran. The New York Times reported, “The Shah and 18-year-old Soraya Isfandiari [sic] will be married in ‘Arabian Nights’ splendour in pink marble Golestan Palace before hundreds of princes, nobles and eminent figures from around the world. A plane laden with one and one-half tons of orchids, tulips and carnations purchased in the Netherlands for the wedding at a cost of $5,600 landed at Tehran airports shortly before the monarch left to spend an hour with his bride-to-be.”1
Afterwards, they reported, “For a royal wedding in Iran, it could be said to have been a simple ceremony, but it glittered with bespangled guests and the bride’s gown was the most spectacular wedding gown seen in Iran in years. The once-divorced Shah and Soraya Esfandiari [sic], 19-year-old [sic] daughter of a one-time rebel tribal chieftain, went through the ceremony seated on gilded chairs before a gold brocade cloth spread on the floor of the palace.”2
The groom wore a “uniform of dark blue with golden epaulettes and a sash of light blue. He was decorated with medals from shoulder to waist.”3
Soraya was “wearing a Parisian wedding gown of silver lame trimmed with pearl sequins and maribou feathers. The bride was escorted to the Shah’s side by his two sisters, the Princesses Ashraf and Cham [sic].”4
The Shah had ordered free food to be distributed among his people as he enjoyed a banquet with their 2,000 guests.
The marriage of the Shah and Soraya did not last long. By 1955, it was reportedly made clear to Soraya that she was infertile and would not be able to give her husband any heirs. They were divorced in 1958, and the Shah remarried to Farah Diba the following year.
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