Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari

Her family had long been involved in the Iranian government and diplomatic corps. An uncle, Sardar Assad, was a leader in the Iranian constitutional movement of the early 20th century. Read Less

The former queen's belongings were sold at auction in Paris after her death, for more than $8.3 million. Her Dior wedding dress brought $1.2 million.

Though her husband's title, Shahanshah (King of Kings), is the equivalent of Emperor, it was not until 1967 that a complementary feminine title, Shahbanu or Shahbanou (equivalent of Empress consort), was created to designate the consort of a Shah. Farah Pahlavi was the first and last to have this title. Until then, wives of Shahs (including Soraya) bore the title Malake (which is comparable with that of Queen Consort), though in the popular press they frequently and incorrectly were called "Empress".

Upon the divorce, Soraya lost the title "Queen", but a day later she was granted the personal style and title Her Imperial Highness Princess Soraya of Iran.

Princess Soraya wrote two memoirs. The first, published in 1964 and published in the United States by Doubleday, was Princess Soraya: Autobiography of Her Imperial Highness. A decade before her death, she and a collaborator, Louis Valentin, wrote another memoir in French, Le Palais des Solitudes, which was translated into English as Palace of Solitude (London: Quartet Books Ltd, 1992); ISBN 0-7043-7020-4. Read Less