[custom_adv] Princess Ashraf ol-Molouk Pahlavi (26 October 1919 – 7 January 2016) was the twin sister of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah , and a member of the Pahlavi dynasty. She was considered the "power behind her brother" and was instrumental in the 1953 coup which led to him taking the throne. [custom_adv] She served her brother as a palace adviser and was a strong advocate for women's rights. Following the Iranian Revolution in 1979, she lived in exile in France, New York, Paris and Monte Carlo and remained outspoken against the Iranian Islamic Republic. [custom_adv] Pahlavi's first marriage was to Mirza 'Ali Muhammed Khan Ghavam, Nasir ud-Daula (1911–?). They were married in March 1937 and divorced in 1942. Ghavam was the Assistant Military Attaché for Iran in 1941 in Washington DC and the eldest son of H.H. Mirza Ibrahim Khan Ghavam, Qavam ul-Mulk. [custom_adv] She had one son from her first marriage, H.H. Prince (Vala Gohar) Shahram Pahlavi-Nia (born 18 April 1940, Tehran). In 1966 he married 16-year-old Niloufar Afshar, and the couple had one son, Cyrus, in 1969. [custom_adv] Pahlavi-Nia had another son, Amir Ebrahim (born 1974) out of wedlock with Naz Alam, a daughter of the Shah's longtime minister of court and confidante, Asadollah Alam. In 1987 Shahram and Naz had an Islamic marriage ceremony in the US Virgin Islands. [custom_adv] Pavlavi's second marriage was to (Sahib ul-Izza) Ahmed Chafik Bey (21 September 1911 – 1976). He was the director-general of Civil Aviation and fourth son of H.E. (Hazrat Sahib ul-Sa'ada) Ahmad Shafiq Pasha, the minister of the Khedivial Court of Egypt. [custom_adv] They married in 1944 in Cairo, and divorced in 1960; he went on to a second marriage to Deloris Pianezzola, and died of cancer in 1976, in Tehran. They had two children, Captain H.H. Prince (Vala Gohar) Shahriar Mustapha Chafik (15 March 1945 – 7 December 1979), assassinated in Paris, and H.H. Princess (Vala Gohari) Azadeh Pahlavi-Chafik (1951–2011). [custom_adv] Pahlavi married a third and final time on 5 June 1960 (at the Iranian Embassy in Paris) to Mehdi Bushehri (1916–?), who was the Director of the Maison d'Iran (House of Iran), Paris. They had no children together, and were often separated while Pahlavi lived in exile in New York City and Mehdi Bushehri remained in Paris. [custom_adv] In a 1980 interview with The New York Times journalist Judy Klemesrud, Pahlavi stated, "I have never been a good mother. Because of my way of life, I was not with my children very much". [custom_adv] After the Revolution Princess Ashraf divided her time between Beekman Place[29] which she sold before moving to Park Avenue in New York City, Paris and in Juan-les-Pins, on the French Riviera.[1][15] [custom_adv] Princess Ashraf Pahlavi died on 7 January 2016 in Monte Carlo at the age of 96.[1] She had suffered from Alzheimer's disease.[30] Her death was announced by her nephew and the imperial family's head, Reza Pahlavi on his Facebook page. [custom_adv] Robert F. Armao, an adviser, said the cause was "old age". Armao related that Princess Ashraf died in her sleep at home in Europe, but declined to name the country, citing concern for the safety of her family.
