About Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary
Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary was the second wife of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and Queen of Iran from 1951 to 1958. 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'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 wrote despite his first marriage and "in spite of countless mistresses he had before me, Mohammad Reza was extremely shy with women... he did not like to show his feelings" while praising his eyes as "expressive. Soraya described as Queen having to visit "hospitals, orphanages, charities, the people's quarters with their djoubs open to the sky, with streams of dirt water which supplied their dwellings, having first served washerwomen, tramps and dogs. A photograph of Queen Soraya water-skiing in Miami while wearing a bikini became extremely controversial in Iran.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.