Fawzia of Egypt
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Princess Fawzia bint Fuad of Egypt (Arabic: فوزية بنت الملك فؤاد, Persian: فوزیه فؤاد) (Alexandria, Egypt, November 5, 1921 -) was the Queen consort of Shahanshah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi of Iran and a princess of Egypt by birth.
She is currently Fawzia Shirin, having remarried in 1949 and having lost her royal titles in 1952 when the Egyptian monarchy was abolished, although she is referred to as Princess out of courtesy. She is the senior member of the deposed Egyptian Royal Family residing in Egypt. Her nephew Fuad, who was proclaimed King Fuad II of Egypt upon the departure of his father into exile in Europe, resides in Switzerland.
An Egyptian citizen of Circassian. Albanian, and French descent, Princess Fawzia is a member of the Muhammad Ali dynasty, a family of Albanian origin which came to prominence in Egypt under the Ottoman Empire.
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Early Life
She was born Her Sultanic Highness Princess Fawzia bint Fuad at Ras al-Tine Palace in Alexandria, the eldest daughter of Fuad I, Sultan of Egypt (later King Fuad I) and his second wife, Nazli Sabri. One of her great-great-grandfathers was Suleiman Pasha, a French army officer who served under Napoleon, converted to Islam, and oversaw an overhaul of the Egyptian army. In addition to her sisters Faiza, Faika, and Fathiya, and her brother Farouk, she had two half-siblings from her father's previous marriage to Princess Shivakiar Khanum Effendi. Princess Fawzia was raised to the rank of Royal Highness in 1922, when her father became king.
Marriage to Crown Prince of Iran
Princess Fawzia of Egypt married Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1919-1980), the Crown Prince of Iran, in Cairo, on March 16, 1939; after their honeymoon, the wedding ceremonies were repeated in Tehran. Two years later, the crown prince succeeded his exiled father and was to become the last Shah of Iran. Soon after her husband's elevation to the throne, Queen Fawzia appeared on the cover of the September 21, 1942 issue of Life magazine, photographed by Cecil Beaton, who described her as an "Asian Venus" with "a perfect heart-shaped face [and] strangely pale but piercing blue eyes."
The marriage was not a success. After the birth of the couple's only child, Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi, Queen Fawzia -- the title of empress was not yet used in Iran at that time -- obtained an Egyptian divorce in 1945. This divorce was not recognized by Iran, however, and eventually an official divorce was obtained, in Iran, on November 17, 1948, with Queen Fawzia reclaiming her previous distinction of Princess of Egypt. A major condition of the divorce was that her daughter be left behind to be raised in Iran.
Marriage to Colonel Ismail Hussain Shirin Bey
On March 28, 1949, in Cairo, Princess Fawzia married Colonel Ismail Hussain Shirin Bey, (1919-1994), a distant cousin and onetime Egyptian Minister of War and the Navy. The couple had two children: Nadia (born 1950) and Muhammed (born 1955).
Other
Princess Fawzia's death was mistakenly reported in January 2005. Journalists had confused her with her niece Princess Fazia (Fevziye) (1940-2005), one of the three daughters of King Farouk.
Titles from Birth
- Her Sultanic Highness the Princess Fawzia of Egypt
- Her Royal Highness the Princess Fawzia of Egypt
- Her Imperial and Royal Highness the Crown Princess of Iran
- Her Imperial Majesty the Queen of Iran
- Her Imperial & Royal Highness Princess Fawzia of Iran and Egypt
- Her Royal Highness the Princess Fawzia of Egypt
- Mrs. Ismail Shirinde:Fausia (Prinzessin)