Saturday, January 30, 2010

A letter to Princess Fatemeh Pahlavi


As I collect stamps from Iran, this was one of my lucky finds.

A letter to Princess Fatemeh Pahlavi, a half-sister of the late shah of Iran. She was the elder daughter of Reza Shah, the father of the last Shah of Iran and Reza’s fourth wife, Princess Esmat-ol-Moluk Dowlatshahi.

This letter was written in 1946 by the mother Princess Esmat to her daughter Princess Fatemeh, when Fatemeh studied at the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, near New York city.

This is a picture showing the daughter (second to the right) next to her mother (third to the right).


This is her father Reza Shah, on stamps.


This is Princess Fatemeh Pahlavi in the 1950’s.

She engaged to an American Entrepreneur from California, Vincent Lee Hillyer, who chooses to convert to Islam. He then adopted the name Ali, so that the Princess could maintain her royal Prerogatives. The couple had three children before divorcing in 1959.

Later that year, the Princess married Iran's air force commander, Gen. Muhammad Khatami, with whom she had two sons. The general was killed in a flying accident in 1975. Princess Fatemeh died at the age of 58 in London in 1987.

The Masters School still exists and is thriving.

See http://www.mastersny.org/about-us/index.aspx


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