Family Life and Withdrawal from Court
In 1950, Abdolreza married Parisima Zand, daughter of Ebrahim Zand, a statesman and governor under Reza Shah’s administration. The marriage represented a union between two influential families and initially seemed promising. The couple had two children, Kamyar and Sarvnaz.
However, the marriage was marred by discord—particularly due to tensions between Parisima and the royal court. Differences with Mohammad Reza Shah’s inner circle led Abdolreza to distance himself from palace politics. He increasingly withdrew from the public eye and refrained from courtly engagements.
Instead, Abdolreza chose a life of relative seclusion. He developed interests in hunting, animal preservation, taxidermy, and agriculture. He managed a large estate in the Naz Plain of Sari in northern Iran, consisting of over 3,700 hectares of agricultural land. His passion for mechanized farming and conservationism foreshadowed his later role in global environmental efforts.
He became an active member and eventually president of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Iran. Although an avid hunter, Abdolreza believed in sustainable practices and worked toward balancing ecological protection with cultural traditions of hunting.
