PAHLAVI MOHAMMAD REZA: (1919-1980) Shah of the Imperial State of Iran 1941-79. A fine vintage signed and inscribed 7 x 9 photograph of the young, handsome Shah in a half-length pose wearing his ceremonial uniform and decorations. Signed at the foot of the image in fountain pen ink with a warm inscription to his wife, Princess Fawzia, in French, ‘Avec tout l’amour de mon Coeur……Fawzia, cherie, Mohammad Reza’, and dated 31^st January 1942 in his hand. The inscription and signature partially run across a darker area of the image. A rare signed presentation photograph with an excellent association. Some very light, minor silvering to the upper edge and a few minimal traces of former mounting to the verso, VG

Fawzia Fuad of Egypt (1921-2013) Egyptian princess who became Queen of Iran (1941-48) as the first wife of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Pahlavi and Fawzia were engaged in May 1938, however the union was largely regarded as a political move and the couple only saw each other once before their wedding at the Abdeen Palace in Cairo on 15^th March 1939. It was not a love-match and Fawzia obtained an Egyptian divorce in 1945, which was not recognised in Iran until three years later.