After the Shah’s death, the exiled Shahbanu remained in Egypt for nearly two years. She was the regent in pretence from 27 July to 31 October 1980. President Anwar Sadat gave her and her family use of Koubbeh Palace in Cairo. A few months after President Sadat’s assassination in October 1981, the Shahbanu and her family left Egypt. President Ronald Reagan informed her that she was welcome in the United States. Farah Diba Pahlavi (born October 14, 1938) is a public figure, philanthropist, and former Empress. She became the third wife of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last monarch of the Pahlavi dynasty, and served as Empress (Shahbanu) from 1961 until the Revolution in 1979.
Farah Diba is known for her cultural, social, and charitable contributions, as well as her role in modernizing aspects of society. She first settled in Williamstown, Massachusetts, but later bought a home in Greenwich, Connecticut. After the death of her daughter Princess Leila in 2001, she purchased a smaller home in Potomac, Maryland, near Washington, D.C., to be closer to her son and grandchildren. Farah now divides her time between Washington, D.C., and Paris. She also makes an annual July visit to the late Shah’s mausoleum at Cairo’s al-Rifa’i Mosque.
