Hamid Mirza

Prince Sultan Hamid Mirza Qajar (23 April 1918 – 5 May 1988) was the head and heir presumptive of the Qajar dynasty, the former ruling dynasty of Iran, and the son of the last Qajar Crown Prince of Iran. He was born in Tabriz, the son of Crown Prince Mohammad Hassan Mirza and his second wife Mohtaram Razzaghi. His early years were spent at the Golestan Palace until he was sent by his father at the age of 4 to be educated in England. On his way to England he visited his grandfather Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar in Constantinople. His grandfather had abdicated in 1909 after the Iranian Constitutional Revolution. He did not go on England as his grandfather felt he was too young to go. Instead he lived with his grandfather: first in Constantinople, and later in San Remo, Italy, where his grandfather died on 5 April 1925. After the death of his grandfather Hamid Mirza and his older brother Hossein Mirza moved to Paris for a year. When the Qajar dynasty was overthrown in 1925, Hamid Mirza and his brother moved to England with their father. His brother, Hossein, subsequently emigrated to Canada and worked as an architect in Toronto. In 1934 Hamid Mirza enrolled in the Thames Nautical Training College aboard HMS Worcester in Greenhithe, Kent. He graduated in 1936 with a nautical degree and joined the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company as a cadet. After three years with the Royal Mail, Hamid Mirza left to join Mobil Oil. At the outbreak of World War II, Hamid Mirza tried to join the Royal Navy but was not accepted. He was finally accepted into the Navy in 1942. He served as a sub-lieutenant on HMS Duke of York and HMS Wild Goose. Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden asked him to adopt a British name for his service, due to possible political or diplomatic complications. He used the name "David Drummond" during his naval service. The name was chosen in part after David, the son of his friend Richard Thesiger, and in part after the "Bulldog Drummond" character. Hamid Mirza states that the name simply came out of a telephone book.