This is the first website we create about a non-European royal family and we do hope it will be interesting for people interested in royalty, history and grand royal events to discover two events that are not too largely known, mainly because they did not take place in Europe. They remain, nevertheless, among the most outstandingly brilliant royal events of the 20th century, along with the events like the British coronations, for example. But because of what we called a delightful anachronism, because of the oriental touch and the unknown splendour of Iran, these two events are even more fascinating. The jewels and solemnity of Teheran, the colours of Persepolis and the amazing gathering of World leaders, the flavour of something rare, the attraction of something new and different.
This was all that captured us and that we hope could capture the imagination of our visitors. One of the goals of this website must be an homage to the memory of His Imperial Majesty The Shah of Iran. No matter what errors he might have committed, there must be no doubt that if there was someone in the 20th century that dedicated the whole life to Iran, this was Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlavi. He was extremely near to his goal of transforming Iran into a modern nation. Those who overthrew him plunged Iran back into the 18th century, destroying all the social, economical, diplomatic and political work of the Shah. They did exactly the reverse of what Cyrus the Great would have done.
We would like to dedicate this website to Her Imperial Majesty The Shahbanou of Iran, the widow of the last Shah. With her impeccable savoir-faire, her allure and her magnificence she impressed everyone at her Coronation. They said she looked like Cleopatra entering the Egyptian court, like Josephine being crowned by Napoleon. She was praised for her work in support of the Iranian population, for her help to the Emperor in building a new, strong and modern Iran. She was nearly forgotten after the fall of the Iranian monarchy and she has suffered dramatically since, with the loss of her husband and recently of her youngest daughter. She must be admired for everything, but especially for her great dignity.
Finally, we could not end this website without thanking all those that have made it possible. Had it not been the help of so many friends and it would have been basically impossible to create this website, which we consider to be the most complete and essentially the best we have created so far. We have the deepest and most sincere gratitude to our friend Volker Liepert, who tirelessly helped us to find information and pictures for this website and without whose help it would probably not exist. We would equally like to thank Francisco Luis Murado Saavedra and John C. Berendsen, both of whom generously sent us so many photos that appear in this website. We would also like to mention Devin J., Marsha Taylor, Cyrus Kadivar, Michelle Gonzalez and Eric Pacherie, as well as all the others who, with their support, encouragement and suggestions have made this site possible.
As it happens with the other sites of the Glittering Royal Events Sites, the purpose of this site is to provide visual and textual information about the events that are described and pictured. We do not hold the copyrights of the images displayed in the website but we do not seek to profit from this site and so we ask that if you are the original copyright holders of any of the pictures displayed, please contact the editors to negotiate terms of use. If you have any comments, suggestions or wish to notice any mistake, please feel free to contact us.
We would like, once again, to thank our visitors for your generous interest and we hope that this website could bring you not only information and some new knowledge, but especially some unforgettable glittering moments to think about for a couple of minutes. We basically hope we could bring you some moments of distinct royal pleasure. Thanks for visiting this site!
October 2002, the Editors
Official website of Her Imperial Majesty The Shahbanou of Iran
Official website of Reza Pahlavi II, Shah de jure of Iran
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