Princess Leila Pahlavi: biography

The life of a princess is not always like a fairy tale. The youngest daughter of the last Iranian shah, Leila Pahlavi, knew this firsthand. Because of the coup d'état Her Highness was forced to leave her native country with her family. Life in exile was filled with depression, which led to health problems and the early death of the princess.

The birth of the princess, her family

Leyla Pahlevi was born on March 27, 1970 in a military hospital located in Tehran, the capital of Iran (subsequently, this institution was given the name of a princess). She was the youngest daughter of the Persian Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and his third wife Empress Farah. In addition to Leila, three more children were growing up in the family of the ruler of Iran and his wife: the daughter of Faranhaz, the sons of Reza Kir and Ali Reza. Also the girl had an older half-sister of Shanhaz, born from the first marriage of her father with the Egyptian princess Favzia.

Childhood, expulsion from the country

The first years of her life spent in luxury Princess Leila Pahlavi. Tehran (Iran) babe considered the best city in the world. Here she had her own apartment, consisting of 6 rooms. The youngest daughter of the Iranian Shah felt that her whole life would be happy and cloudless, but unexpectedly for her in 1978 the Islamic Revolution burst in the country, as a result of which her father was deposed from the throne in 1979. To save himself, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was forced to flee with his family abroad. A year after his expulsion, he died of lymphoma in Cairo. After burying her husband, the widowed Farah, together with her children, moved to the United States. Here the family of the last Persian Shah led a quiet, but well-endowed life. Leila received a secondary education at the Pine Cobble School in Massachusetts, after which she became a student at the prestigious Brown University in Rhode Island. In her student years, the princess began to be fond of sculpture and even made her own father's bust of clay out of clay.

Career Model

Having received a higher education in 1992, she did not hurry to find a job in the specialty of Pahlavi Leila. The girl's biography contains information that after graduation she settled in Greenwich, Connecticut, but spent much time in Paris, where her mother had moved, or in London. Being the owner of high growth and attractive appearance, the princess began to engage in modeling business and became one of the best models of the fashion house Valentino Garavani. Despite his successful career, cooperation with the world-famous couturier did not bring Leila moral satisfaction. Insecurity in its own attractiveness caused the development of a low self-esteem and anorexia nervosa. Leyla Pahlavi also suffered from severe depression. At the insistence of her mother, Her Highness was repeatedly treated in clinics in England and America, but she could not achieve full recovery.

Life in London

Arriving in London, Leila stayed at her favorite Leonard hotel, always renting the same luxurious room for $ 675 a day. The hotel staff knew Her Highness well and treated her with respect and sympathy. They called her a friendly, well-bred and humble girl, with whom there were no problems or conflict situations. According to them, the princess stopped at them in order to unwind, but no one had ever seen her bring one of her friends or acquaintances to her room.

To the capital of Foggy Albion, Leila had a particularly tremulous attitude. London attracted the girl to herself with some unknown force, and at one time she seriously thought about how to get her own house here and forever leave the States. The princess had to abandon the idea because she had to endure a half-year quarantine in the event of a move to the UK. Not wishing to be separated for such a long period with her four-footed pupils, she preferred to stay at the Leonard Hotel during her stay in London.

Leila Pahlavi was a well-off girl and could afford any whims. According to rumors, after the expulsion from the country on her father's overseas accounts, about 10 billion dollars have accumulated, to which his widow and children subsequently lived. Empress Farah repeatedly and categorically denied such information, calling it complete nonsense. Nevertheless, the money from the wife and children of the last Persian Shah was and allowed them to lead a comfortable life.

Longing for the home country

Despite the wealth and opportunities that it provides to a person, Leila felt immensely lonely and resentful fate. For many years, spent in America and Europe, she constantly yearned for Iran and dreamed of returning to it. However, the way to the land where she was born and where her father ruled was closed to her. In one of her interviews, Her Highness confessed that she often sees dreams in which she is in the palace and is afraid that at any moment she can be arrested to send her to death.

Personal life

The youngest daughter of the last Persian shah never became a heroine of secular chronicles. Raised in strict Shiite traditions, she carefully guarded her private life from extraneous views, so nothing is known about her novels with members of the opposite sex. The girl was never married and had no children.

Death of the Princess

Early in the morning on June 10, 2001, 31-year-old Leila was found dead in her favorite room in the London hotel "Leonard". She was found lying in bed without any signs of violent death. The room occupied by Her Highness reigned supreme. The cause of the death of the princess was called only after the opening of her body. According to experts, the girl died as a result of taking a large dose of sleeping pills. In addition to it, small amounts of cocaine were found in her body. Considering the fact that Leila's body did not find a suicide note, experts suggested that she could take a lethal dose of a sleeping pill through imprudence. However, they did not completely exclude the version of suicide.

Rumors of suicide

In the countries of the West, newspaper pages were full of headlines about the death of Princess Leila Pahlavi. The news of her premature death was the subject of active discussion in the media. Most people were inclined to believe that Her Highness had brought her life to an end. In favor of suicide, says the fact that at the time when Laila was found dead, she had a TV in her room. On the night when the princess died, the results of the presidential elections in Iran were announced in the media, where the incumbent head of the country, Mohammad Khatami, who defended democratic reforms, defeated with great margin. Most likely, the girl was deeply disappointed with the results of the elections and realized that the Iranians who voted for the republic are unlikely to ever want to see in their state representatives of the Pahlavi dynasty. For the depressed princess, realizing that she does not need her people and will never be able to return to her native land could be the last straw. Having taken a lethal dose of sleeping pills, she put a fatty point in her life filled with disappointments and resentments.

Members of the royal family refused to comment on the causes of Leila's death. In the official message, which was left by the elder brother of Princess Reza Kir Pahlavi, it was said that Her Highness died as a result of a long illness. The girl, the heir of the non-existent Iranian throne, preferred not to specify what illness the girl suffered.

Farewell to Layla

The funeral of the youngest daughter of Mohammed Reza Pahlavi took place on June 17, 2001 in Paris. The mother of the deceased, Empress Farah, wanted the princess to be buried in the Passy cemetery near her grandmother. In addition to the next of kin, the funeral was attended by representatives of the monarch's house Bourbon and nephew of former French President Francois Mitterrand Frederic. The girl's family did not set pompous monuments on her grave. The place of her burial is decorated with a modest inscription: "Princess Leila Pahlavi. 1970-2001 », as well as flowers brought to the cemetery by the Iranian dynasty, who live in France.

After 9.5 years after the death of Leila, her brother, Ali Reza, voluntarily died. Like his sister, he strongly experienced the expulsion from Iran and dreamed of reviving the monarchy in him. Finally disappointed in reality, the heir to the Iranian throne brought the scores to life in January 2011, shooting through his head. The deaths of Leila and Ali Reza were great losses for the Iranian monarch family. To date, it includes the widowed Empress Farah, her children Reza Cyrus and Faranhaz, as well as the daughter of the late Persian Shah from the first marriage of Shanghai.