At the end of the ceremony, following the speech of the Shah, the Imperial Family regained the red carpet, now in inversed order. First the Shah walked the length of the Grand Hall, surrounded by officers, bows, curtsies, glamour and uniqueness. Then it was the time the Shahbanou to walk in full splendour and royalty. The excitement and amazement about the event that was being witnessed, was reflected in every single face of those standing in the tribunes inside the Grand Hall of the Golestan. Meanwhile, the anxiety grew further in the tribunes outside, since those guests would still have to wait until the end of a lunch inside the Golestan to see the Imperial Family go past.
The Shahbanou was preceded by two saluting military officers and followed by her six maids of honour (the embroidery on the sleeves of their dresses was similar to the one of the Empress’ velvet robe), who took her train. The Empress looked still serious, but quite more relaxed than at the beginning of the ceremony, which had been rather short but extremely intense. History had been made. The third wife of the Shah of Iran had become the first wife of a Persian Emperor ever to be crowned Empress of Iran. The new role and status of Empress Farah represented, as underlined before, the role the Shah wanted women to have in the Iranian society.
Then it was time for the Crown Prince of Iran, the heir of the King of Kings, to make his way down the long red carpet, amidst the continuing admiration over his perfect behaviour during the ceremony. It had been a much-anticipated day for the small prince and his younger sister, and he had been clearly marvelled by the grand ceremony that he had witnessed, in which his father (who, despite all the titles and honours, had a very normal relationship with his children) had crowned himself after receiving the most spectacular jewels. Then the small Prince Reza Cyrus had seen his mother be crowned, and had then been presented as the Crown Prince. It is possible to imagine how the Prince must have felt, even being so young.
The other members of the Imperial Family left the Grand Hall and, inside the Golestan Palace, a brief reception was offered, before the procession in the gardens of the Palace towards the Coronation Coach and the large crowds waiting outside. It was during this reception that the Crown Prince was photographed drinking what might have been his first glass of champagne, under the surveillance of his mother, the Empress. Before they left for the gardens and after all the guests had left the Grand Hall, the imperial couple and their son returned for an official photograph in front of the Naderi Throne and the setting of the marvellous ceremony that had come to a close minutes before.
After the procession through the streets of Teheran, a luncheon was offered by the Queen Mother, the widow of Reza Shah the Great and mother of the Shah, in her palace. She had missed the ceremony in which she had been expected and there had been stupefying rumours that she had died and the Imperial Family was delaying the announcement of her death until the end of the ceremony. At the end of the luncheon, the Imperial Family regained the quiet Shebqaraniyeh Palace, in the Niavaran Palace complex, to rest before the start of the Coronation celebrations, that same evening.
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