Empress Farah Pahlavi of Iran and Princess Noor on Life Beyond the Peacock Throne
by CATERINA MINTHE
Her Imperial Majesty Empress Farah Pahlavi of Iran and her eldest grandchild, Her Highness Princess Noor Pahlavi, reveal their close bond as they look to the future in their first-ever joint interview.
Empress Farah Pahlavi with her dog Mowgli. Princess Noor Pahlavi wears dress, Alexandre Vauthier. Photo: Stéphanie Volpato for Vogue Arabia
From a fifth-floor window overlooking Paris’s murky Seine River, an 80-year-old lady stands straight and tall; the white of her pantsuit illuminating the dull, surrounding wintery gray. Her Imperial Majesty Empress Farah Pahlavi, the last queen of Iran following 2 500 years of imperial rule, is as still as a sculpture. I observe her quietly from the doorway as she appears to undulate between myth and reality.
Empress Farah Pahlavi at her home in Paris. Photo: Stéphanie Volpato for Vogue Arabia
Forty years have passed since the Queen and her late husband, His Imperial Majesty Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, were forced into exile during the Iranian Revolution. On January 16, 1979, the Shah piloted his Boeing 707 with his wife and their closest confidants on board out of Iran for the last time. The path thereafter would be long and at times tragic. The King would die of lymphoma cancer 18 months after being forced out of the homeland he ruled for 38 years. He was laid to rest in the Al- Rifa’i Mosque, also known as the King’s Mosque, in Cairo. Their two youngest children, Princess Leila, and Prince Ali-Reza, who never reconciled with life in banishment, took their own lives. As I consider these misfortunes, from the window, Her Majesty turns, smiles, and says, “I am not bitter. Such thoughts only invite the enemies to win.”
Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi with his wife Empress Farah and their son Crown Prince Reza at their Coronation, 1967. Photo: Rex
It is only a few days into the new year, and though not particularly cold, the city is moody. What little light enters the floor-to-ceiling, wood-paneled salon dims considerably during my three-hour audience with Her Majesty, until we are almost cloaked in darkness. Sitting to my left on a white cushion couch is the Queen’s 26-year-old granddaughter, Her Highness Princess Noor Pahlavi. The firstborn of Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi – the man who would have been shah – is an MBA student at Columbia University and an advisor to the non-profit impact investment fund Acumen. In black leggings and a red sweatshirt, her frame is as slight as a couture model’s. Her brown hair is pulled into a ponytail revealing high cheekbones while her large almond eyes mirror those of her late grandfather’s.
Originally published in the March 2019 issue of Vogue Arabia
Princess Noor Pahlavi in Maison Rabih Kayrouz. Jewelry Van Cleef & Arpels. Photo: Stéphanie Volpato for Vogue Arabia
We speak uninterrupted for hours, but it is the following day, when the Queen’s residence is alive with the photo shoot crew, that I witness a feisty exchange common to family. “There is nothing wrong with this dress!” exclaims Princess Noor to her grandmother. She is wearing a skin-toned Dior gown; its delicate bustier resembling a sleeveless unitard. While she appears like a ballerina, the Queen firmly objects to the attire. The shoot has not yet begun and she can shut down production at any instant. Princess Noor’s outburst is not the nature of a glamour-seeking woman, however. Rather, that of one stifled by the weight of a regime that now demands women to be modest.
by CATERINA MINTHE
Her Imperial Majesty Empress Farah Pahlavi of Iran and her eldest grandchild, Her Highness Princess Noor Pahlavi, reveal their close bond as they look to the future in their first-ever joint interview.
Empress Farah Pahlavi with her dog Mowgli. Princess Noor Pahlavi wears dress, Alexandre Vauthier. Photo: Stéphanie Volpato for Vogue Arabia
From a fifth-floor window overlooking Paris’s murky Seine River, an 80-year-old lady stands straight and tall; the white of her pantsuit illuminating the dull, surrounding wintery gray. Her Imperial Majesty Empress Farah Pahlavi, the last queen of Iran following 2 500 years of imperial rule, is as still as a sculpture. I observe her quietly from the doorway as she appears to undulate between myth and reality.
Empress Farah Pahlavi at her home in Paris. Photo: Stéphanie Volpato for Vogue Arabia
Forty years have passed since the Queen and her late husband, His Imperial Majesty Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, were forced into exile during the Iranian Revolution. On January 16, 1979, the Shah piloted his Boeing 707 with his wife and their closest confidants on board out of Iran for the last time. The path thereafter would be long and at times tragic. The King would die of lymphoma cancer 18 months after being forced out of the homeland he ruled for 38 years. He was laid to rest in the Al- Rifa’i Mosque, also known as the King’s Mosque, in Cairo. Their two youngest children, Princess Leila, and Prince Ali-Reza, who never reconciled with life in banishment, took their own lives. As I consider these misfortunes, from the window, Her Majesty turns, smiles, and says, “I am not bitter. Such thoughts only invite the enemies to win.”
Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi with his wife Empress Farah and their son Crown Prince Reza at their Coronation, 1967. Photo: Rex
It is only a few days into the new year, and though not particularly cold, the city is moody. What little light enters the floor-to-ceiling, wood-paneled salon dims considerably during my three-hour audience with Her Majesty, until we are almost cloaked in darkness. Sitting to my left on a white cushion couch is the Queen’s 26-year-old granddaughter, Her Highness Princess Noor Pahlavi. The firstborn of Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi – the man who would have been shah – is an MBA student at Columbia University and an advisor to the non-profit impact investment fund Acumen. In black leggings and a red sweatshirt, her frame is as slight as a couture model’s. Her brown hair is pulled into a ponytail revealing high cheekbones while her large almond eyes mirror those of her late grandfather’s.
Originally published in the March 2019 issue of Vogue Arabia
Princess Noor Pahlavi in Maison Rabih Kayrouz. Jewelry Van Cleef & Arpels. Photo: Stéphanie Volpato for Vogue Arabia
We speak uninterrupted for hours, but it is the following day, when the Queen’s residence is alive with the photo shoot crew, that I witness a feisty exchange common to family. “There is nothing wrong with this dress!” exclaims Princess Noor to her grandmother. She is wearing a skin-toned Dior gown; its delicate bustier resembling a sleeveless unitard. While she appears like a ballerina, the Queen firmly objects to the attire. The shoot has not yet begun and she can shut down production at any instant. Princess Noor’s outburst is not the nature of a glamour-seeking woman, however. Rather, that of one stifled by the weight of a regime that now demands women to be modest.