Princess Fawzia Fuad of Egypt

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Princess Fawzia Fuad of Egypt

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Princess Fawzia (Fawzeya)
Princess of Egypt and of Iran
Queen consort of Iran
Tenure 16 September 1941 – 17 November 1948 (&100000000000000070000007 years, &1000000000000006200000062 days)
Spouse Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (m.1939; div.1948)
Ismail Hussain Shirin Bey (m.1949; d.1994)
Issue
Shahnaz Pahlavi
Nadia Shirin
Hussein Shirin
Full name
English: Fawzia Fuad
Arabic: فوزية فؤاد
Persian: فوزيه فؤاد
House Muhammad Ali Dynasty (by birth)
Pahlavi Dynasty (by marriage, then by daughter after divorce)
Father Fuad I of Egypt
Mother Nazli Sabri
Born (1921-11-05) 5 November 1921 (age 90)
Ras Al-Teen Palace, Alexandria, Egypt

Princess Fawzia Fuad of Egypt (Persian: شاهدخت فوزیهArabic: الأميرة فوزية‎) (born 5 November 1921) is an Egyptian princess who became Queen of Iran as the first wife of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

She is currently Fawzia Shirin, having remarried in 1949 and having her royal titles no longer recognized by the Egyptian government after the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. She is still commonly referred to as princess out of courtesy. She is the oldest member of the deposed Muhammad Ali Dynasty residing in Egypt. Her nephew, Fuad, who was proclaimed King Fuad II of Egypt and Sudan after the Revolution, resides in Switzerland.

Contents

Early life

She was born Her Sultanic Highness Princess Fawzia bint Fuad at Ras el-Tin Palace in Alexandria, the eldest daughter of Sultan Fuad I of Egypt and Sudan (later King Fuad I), and his second wife, Nazli Sabri. Her maternal great-grandfather was Major-General Muhammad Sharif Pasha, Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, who was of Albanian origin.[1] One of her great-great-grandfathers was Suleiman Pasha, a French army officer who served under Napoleon, converted to Islam, and oversaw an overhaul of the Egyptian army. In addition to her sisters, Faiza, Faika, and Fathiya, and her brother, Farouk, she had two half-siblings from her father's previous marriage to Princess Shivakiar Khanum Effendi.

Marriages and children

First marriage to Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the future Shah

The wedding ceremony of Princess Fawzia and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
From left to right: King Farouk of Egypt (the bride's brother), Princess Fawzia (the bride) and the Crown Prince of Iran (the groom).
Commemoration Medallion of Marriage of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi and Princess Fawzia of Egypt - March 1939 - The medallion is now in Sahebgharanie palace in Niavaran Palace complex

Princess Fawzia of Egypt married Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1919–1980), the Crown Prince of Iran, at the Abdeen Palace in Cairo, on 16 March 1939; after their honeymoon, the wedding ceremonies were repeated in Tehran. Two years later, the crown prince succeeded his exiled father and was to become the Shah of Iran. Soon after her husband’s ascent to the throne, Queen Fawzia appeared on the cover of the 21 September 1942, issue of Life magazine, photographed by Cecil Beaton, who described her as an “Asian Venus” with “a perfect heart-shaped face and strangely pale but piercing blue eyes.”

With Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi she had one child, a daughter:

The marriage was not a success. After the birth of the couple’s daughter, Queen Fawzia (the title of empress was not yet used in Iran at that time) obtained an Egyptian divorce in 1945, whereupon she moved to Cairo. This divorce was first not recognized for several years by Iran, but eventually an official divorce was obtained in Iran, on 17 November 1948, with Queen Fawzia successfully reclaiming her previous distinction of Princess of Egypt as well. A major condition of the divorce was that her daughter be left behind to be raised in Iran. Curiously, Queen Fawzia’s brother, King Farouk, divorced his first wife, Queen Farida, the same week.

In the official announcement of the divorce, it was stated that “the Persian climate had endangered the health of Empress [sic] Fawzia, and that thus it was agreed that the Egyptian King’s sister be divorced.” In another official statement, the Shah said that the dissolution of the marriage “cannot affect by any means the existing friendly relations between Egypt and Iran.”[2]

Second marriage to Colonel Ismail Shirin

Princess Fawzia with 2nd husband Ismail Shirin

On 28 March 1949, in Cairo, Princess Fawzia married Colonel Ismail Shirin Bey (1919–1994), who was the eldest son of Husain Shirin Bey and his wife, HH Princess Amina Bihruz Khanum Effendi. He was a one-time Egyptian Minister of War and the Navy. The couple had two children, one daughter and one son:

  • Nadia Khanum (December 1950, Cairo - October 2009). She married first (and divorced) Yusuf Shaba’an and second with Mustafa Rashid. She had two daughters, one with her first husband, and another with her second husband:
    • Sinai (born October 1973, daughter of Yusuf Shaba’an)
    • Fawzia Rashid (daughter of Mustafa Rashid)
  • Husain Shirin Effendi (born 1955, Giza)

Other

Princess Fawzia’s death was mistakenly reported in January 2005. Journalists had confused her with her niece, Princess Fawzia Farouk (1940–2005), one of the three daughters of King Farouk. As of 2011 she lives in Alexandria, Egypt.

Titles, styles and honours

Titles and styles from birth

Styles of
Princess Fawzia of Egypt and of Iran
Imperial Coat of Arms of Iran.svg
Reference style Her Imperial & Royal Highness
Spoken style Your Imperial & Royal Highness
Alternative style Ma'am
  • Her Sultanic Highness Princess Fawzia of Egypt (1921–1922)
  • Her Royal Highness Princess Fawzia of Egypt (1922–1939, 1949-1952)
  • Her Imperial & Royal Highness Princess Fawzia of Egypt and of Iran (15–16 March 1939), a day before marriage granted title Shahdokht (Princess) with style Imperial Highness
  • Her Imperial & Royal Highness The Crown Princess of Iran, Princess of Egypt (1939–1941)
  • Her Imperial Majesty The Queen of Iran (1941–1948)
  • Her Imperial & Royal Highness Princess Fawzia of Egypt and of Iran (1948–1949)
  • Her Imperial & Royal Highness Princess Fawzia of Egypt and of Iran, Mrs Shirin (1952–present)

Honours

  • Decoration of al-Kemal in brilliants (Egypt, 16 May 1939)
  • Grand Cross of the Order of Pahlavi (Iran, 27 October 1940)
Egyptian Royal Family
Coat of arms of the Kingdom of Egypt.png

  • HRH Princess Fawzia

Ancestry

Princess Fazia, born an Egyptian citizen, was also of Albanian, Circassian, and French descent. Princess Fawzia was a member of the Muhammad Ali dynasty, a family of Albanian origin.[3][4]

References

  1. ^ Goldschmidt, Arthur (2000). Biographical dictionary of modern Egypt. Lynne Rienner Publishers. p. 191. ISBN 1-55587-229-8. 
  2. ^ "2 Moslem Rulers let the man and wife divorce if they need to ", The New York Times, 20 November 1948, page 1.
  3. ^ In the house of Muhammad Ali: a family album, 1805-1952 By Hassan Hassan
  4. ^ http://www.travelinstyle.com/egypt/king_farouk/PrincessFawzia.htm
  5. ^ Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh, ed. (1980). "The French Ancestry of King Farouk of Egypt". Burke's Royal Families of the World. Volume II: Africa & the Middle East. London: Burke's Peerage. p. 287. ISBN 978-0-85011-029-6. OCLC 18496936. 

External links

Princess Fawzia Fuad of Egypt
Born: 5 November 1921
Iranian royalty
Preceded by
Tadj ol-Molouk
Queen consort of Iran
1941–1948
Vacant
Title next held by
Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari

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