Fawzia Fuad of Egypt

Fawzia of Egypt (فوزية; Ⲫⲱⲍⲓⲁ; فوزیه ; 5 November 1921 – 2 July 2013), also known as Fawzia Pahlavi or Fawzia Chirine, was an Egyptian princess who became Queen of Iran as the first wife of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran. Fawzia was the daughter of Fuad I, seventh son of Ismail the Magnificent. Her marriage to the Iranian Crown Prince in 1939 was a political deal: it consolidated Egyptian power and influence in the Middle East, while bringing respectability to the new Iranian regime by association with the much more prestigious Egyptian royal house. It was never a love-match, and Fawzia obtained an Egyptian divorce in 1945 (not recognised in Iran until 1948), under which their one daughter Princess Shahnaz would be brought up in Iran. In 1949, Fawzia married Colonel Ismail Chirine, an Egyptian diplomat, with whom she had a son and a daughter. Princess Fawzia was born Her Sultanic Highness Princess Fawzia bint Fuad at Ras el-Tin Palace, Alexandria, the eldest daughter of Sultan Fuad I of Egypt and Sudan (later King Fuad I), and his second wife, Nazli Sabri on 5 November 1921. Princess Fawzia Fuad was of Albanian and Circassian descent from her father's side, and French, Turkish, Greek and Egyptian descent from her mother. Her mother's maternal grandfather was Major General Mohamed Sherif Pasha, prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, who was of Turkish origin. She was also a great-granddaughter of the French-born officer Suleiman Pasha. Suleiman Pasha served under Napoleon, converted to Islam, and oversaw an overhaul of the Egyptian army under her great-great-grandfather Muhammad Ali Pasha the Great. In addition to her sisters, Faiza, Faika and Fathia, and her brother, Farouk, she had two half-siblings from her father's previous marriage to Princess Shwikar Khanum Effendi. Princess Fawzia was educated in Switzerland and was fluent in English and French in addition to her native Arabic. Her beauty was often compared to that of film stars Hedy Lamarr and Vivien Leigh.