Princess Fawzia Fuad

Princess Fawzia Fuad of Egypt, or Her Sultanic Highness Princess Fawzia of Egypt (5 November 1921 – 2 July 2013) became Queen of Iran as the first wife of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Exotic beauty of Princess Fawzia was admired worldwide. In the eyes of the world, Fawzia was the epitome of glamour, her style a mixture of European fashion and oriental mystique. Her portrait appeared on the cover of Life magazine in 1942. Life magazine photographer Cecil Beaton called her “Asian Venus with perfect features and piercing, sad and mournful blue eyes”. Despite the fact that after the overthrow of the monarchy in Egypt, Fawzia was deprived of her royal titles and privileges, she was still treated as Princess, as – a sign of respect.

November 5, 1921 in the royal palace of Ras el- Tin in Alexandria, was born Her Highness Princess Fawzia the sultan bint Fuad of Egypt. She became the eldest daughter of Sultan (later King) of Egypt Fuad I (1868 – 1936) and his second wife Nazli Sultana (1894 – 1978).

Great-grandfather of Princess Fawzia Fuad from the maternal side was Major General Muhammad Sharif Pasha, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, Khedive Tawfiq Pasha, and great-grandfather Suleiman Pasha was a French officer in the army of Napoleon Bonaparte, who had converted to Islam and remained in Egypt to help build the army.

Princess Fawzia Fuad was 17 when the match with the young Iranian crown prince was first discussed. By this time she had been educated in Switzerland, and she enjoyed socialising, European fashion, and had never worn the veil. But once back in Egypt, her status as royal princess allowed her little freedom.

A shy, pretty girl with blue eyes and black hair, she was described by the Egyptian writer and courtier Adel Sabit as a “supremely naive, over-protected, cellophane-wrapped, gift-packaged little girl” who lived “in bucolic surroundings, mobbed by adoring servants, aunts and ladies-in-waiting”.

Marriage to a foreign prince seemed like something different. But Fawzia found it difficult to adjust to life in the Persian court. Relations with her mother-in-law and the crown prince’s sisters were tense. Soon after the birth of her child, Fawzia filed a petition for divorce in her native Egypt and in 1945 moved to Cairo. Only three years later the divorce was recognized in Iran, while Fawzia again received the status of a princess of Egypt.

Returning home, she remarried her distant cousin, Egyptian aristocrat Colonel Ismail Hussein Shirin Bey and became Fawzia Shirin (or Chirine). A daughter from her first marriage HIH Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi (born 27 October 1940) remained in Iran ( this was one of the main conditions of the divorce), but from the second husband, she gave birth to two more children – a son Hussein Shirin Effendi (b. 1955) and a daughter Nadia Khanum (1950 – 2009). They lived together in Alexandria until his death in 1994.

Princess Fawzia bint Fuad was born November 5, 1921 in Alexandria, Egypt, and was the first daughter of the King of Egypt and Sudan, Fuad I. Later, the princess got another title – the Queen. In 1939 she married the then Crown Prince of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who came to the throne two years later. Initiator of dynastic marriage was the groom’s father, Shahanshah Reza Shah Pahlavi I. The marriage was in the interests not only of the two monarchies, but the entire Middle East region. But the marriage was not successful and soon after the birth of her child, Fawzia filed a petition for divorce in her native Egypt and in 1945 moved to Cairo. Only three years later the divorce was recognized in Iran, while Fawzia again received the status of a princess of Egypt.

After the overthrow of the monarchy in 1952, the royal family was forced to leave the country and lived in Switzerland. But Princess did not waste time and continued to cooperate actively with many French designers. Especially she was addicted to the hats of Suzanne Talbot and the creations of Jacques Fath.

Princess Fawzia Fuad along with her sisters was able to return home only in 1970, where they immediately filed a lawsuit against the government, which confiscated all property of Dynasty. Princess returned jewelry belonging to her from childhood. Since that time, the daughter of King Fuad I lived in Egypt, where she enjoyed universal respect and love.

Princess Fawzia bint Fuad of Egypt and Iran, Ms. Shirin, died July 2, 2013 at the 92 in Alexandria. The funeral was held the next day in Cairo after the noon prayer.

Princess Fawzia Fuad

telegraph.co.uk