Farah Pahlavi in her private Parisian apartments, in 2026. Photo Joel Saget/AFP
With a somber expression, understated attire and caramel hair tied back, she poses in her Paris apartment before the Lion and Sun emblem. The deposed queen of a dynasty widely criticized for its harsh rule and often mocked for its out-of-touch opulence, Farah Pahlavi, 87, now lives between the gray skies of Paris and the sunshine of Los Angeles.The first woman in Iran to hold the title of empress, she married Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1959 during an evening glittering with diamonds. An orphan who rose to become a chic pillar of monarchical soft power, she filled tabloids for decades in a Western world fascinated by the Iranian court.By favoring elites and the bourgeoisie, curbing the authority of elected officials to his own advantage and repressing opposition, the crown appeared anything but exemplary to many Iranians. Under the shah’s...
With a somber expression, understated attire and caramel hair tied back, she poses in her Paris apartment before the Lion and Sun emblem. The deposed queen of a dynasty widely criticized for its harsh rule and often mocked for its out-of-touch opulence, Farah Pahlavi, 87, now lives between the gray skies of Paris and the sunshine of Los Angeles.The first woman in Iran to hold the title of empress, she married Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1959 during an evening glittering with diamonds. An orphan who rose to become a chic pillar of monarchical soft power, she filled tabloids for decades in a Western world fascinated by the Iranian court.By favoring elites and the bourgeoisie, curbing the authority of elected officials to his own advantage and repressing opposition, the crown appeared anything but exemplary to many Iranians. Under the...
