Fawzia Shirin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Fawzia bint Fuad | ||
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| Shahbanu of Iran | ||
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| Titles | Mrs Ismail Hussain Shirin Bey (1949-) HRH Princess Fawzia of Eygpt (1949-1949)HI&RH Princess Fawzia of Iran and Egypt (1948-1949) HIM Queen Fawzia of Iran (1941-1948) HI&RH The Crown Princess of Iran (1939-1941) HRH Princess Fawzia of Egypt (1922-1939) HSH Princess Fawzia of Egypt (1921-1922) |
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| Born | November 5, 1921 (age 85) | |
| Ras Al-Teen Palace, Alexandria, Egypt | ||
| Consort | September 16, 1941 - November 17, 1948 | |
| Consort to | Mohammad Reza Pahlavi | |
| Issue | Shahnaz Pahlavi, Nadia Shirin, Muhammed Shirin | |
| Royal House | Muhammad 'Ali Dynasty | |
| Father | Fuad I of Eygpt | |
| Mother | Nazli Sabri | |
Princess Fawzia bint Fuad of Egypt (Arabic: فوزية بنت الملك فؤاد, Persian: فوزیه فؤاد) (Alexandria, Egypt, November 5, 1921 -) was the first wife and Queen consort of Shahanshah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi of Iran.
She is currently Fawzia Shirin, having remarried in 1949 and having lost her royal titles in 1952 when the Egyptian monarchy was abolished, although she is referred to as Princess out of courtesy. She is the senior member of the deposed Egyptian Royal Family residing in Egypt. Her nephew Fuad, who was proclaimed King Fuad II of Egypt upon the departure of his father into exile in Europe, resides in Switzerland.
An Egyptian citizen of mostly Albanian, Circassian, and French descent, Princess Fawzia is a member of the Muhammad Ali dynasty, a family of Albanian origin which came to prominence in Egypt under the Ottoman Empire.
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[edit] Early life
She was born Her Sultanic Highness Princess Fawzia bint Fuad at Ras Al-Teen Palace in Alexandria, the eldest daughter of Fuad I, Sultan of Egypt (later King Fuad I) and his second wife, Nazli Sabri. 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. Princess Fawzia was raised to the rank of Royal Highness in 1922, when her father became king.
[edit] Marriage to Crown Prince of Iran
Princess Fawzia of Egypt married Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1919-1980), the Crown Prince of Iran, in Cairo, on March 16, 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 last Shah of Iran. Soon after her husband's ascent to the throne, Queen Fawzia appeared on the cover of the September 21, 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"
The marriage was not a success. After the birth of the couple's only child, Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi, 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 not recognized by Iran, however, and eventually an official divorce was obtained, in Iran, on November 17, 1948, with Queen Fawzia reclaiming her previous distinction of Princess of Egypt. 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."[1]
It has been speculated that family relations between the two royal houses were difficult, particularly since the older Royal family of Egypt regarded the Pahlavi's as parvenues, and the Queen-Mother of Iran and her daughters found Fawzia difficult and distant.
[edit] Marriage to Colonel Ismail Hussain Shirin Bey
On March 28, 1949, in Cairo, Princess Fawzia married Colonel Ismail Hussain Shirin Bey, (1919-1994), a distant cousin and onetime Egyptian Minister of War and the Navy. The couple had two children: Nadia (born 1950) and Hussain (born 1955).
[edit] Other
Princess Fawzia's death was mistakenly reported in January 2005. Journalists had confused her with her niece Princess Faiza (Fevziye) (1940-2005), one of the three daughters of King Farouk.
[edit] References
- ^ "2 Moslem Rulers Divorce Wives Who Bore No Sons", The New York Times, 20 November 1948, page 1.
[edit] Titles from Birth
- Her Sultanic Highness the Princess Fawzia of Egypt
- Her Royal Highness the Princess Fawzia of Egypt
- Her Imperial and Royal Highness the Crown Princess of Iran
- Her Imperial Majesty Queen Fawzia of Iran
- Her Imperial & Royal Highness Princess Fawzia of Iran and Egypt
- Her Royal Highness the Princess Fawzia of Egypt
- Mrs. Ismail Shirin
