Patrick Ali Pahlavi

Prince Patrick Ali Pahlavi (born 1 September 1947) is a member of the deposed Pahlavi dynasty of Iran and was heir presumptive from 1954 to 1960. According to the former constitution of Iran, he would currently be first in the line of succession to the throne; his cousin Prince Reza Pahlavi would be the head of the dynasty.

Early life

Born in Paris, Patrick Ali Pahlavi is the son of Prince Ali Reza Pahlavi and his wife Christiane Cholewski, a Frenchwoman, although no record of his parents' 20 November 1946 wedding in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France, is on official record there. His father chose for him an Irish name popular in France, 'Patrick', and his mother chose for him an Arabic name, 'Ali', which made 'Patrick Ali' his full given name. On his birth he was baptized.

Prince Patrick Ali's father was the second son of Reza Shah, founder of the Pahlavi dynasty and Shah (King) of Iran, making Patrick Ali a nephew of Mohammad Reza Shah, the last reigning Shāhanshāh (Emperor) of Iran. His father was the heir presumptive to his sonless brother's throne and following his death in a plane crash in 1954, Patrick Pahlavi succeeded him as heir presumptive.

In February 1955, Prince Patrick Ali was at the centre of a dispute between his mother and his uncle, Mohammad Reza, Shah of Iran. As heir to the throne, his uncle wanted him enrolled at the Maria Jose School in Switzerland to receive a "proper court education" while his mother wanted to take him to Paris so he would be closer to her. Because of the dispute, he was placed in "protective custody" with policemen guarding his suite at the Hotel Excelsior in Italy until his mother gave into the Shah's demands and he was enrolled at the school. In March, Pahlavi's mother took him from his school without the Iranian embassy or the Swiss authorities knowing.

In 1960, with the birth of a son for his uncle, Pahlavi lost his place as first in the line of succession to the Iranian throne.

Criticism of his uncle and exile

No longer heir, since the late 1960s Pahlavi studied and practiced for some forty years a number of religions and spiritualities, including Taoism, Buddhism (Zen), Hinduism (Advaita), Judaism, Christianity and Islam. He also studied the Quran for some twelve years. During the 1970s his public criticism of his uncle's regime as "corrupt" culminated in his arrest and imprisonment in the Evin prison, where he was psychologically tortured via a mock execution. Following his release, he remained under house arrest for a period.

Following the Iranian revolution and overthrow of the Shah in early 1979, Pahlavi remained in Iran. He served further sentences in the Evin prison before leaving for exile three days before he was due to go on trial that would have sentenced him to death.

In exile he teaches spirituality.

Family

Pahlavi was married in 1972 to Sonja Lauman; together they have three sons:

• Davoud Pahlavi (born 7 December 1971)
• Houd Pahlavi (born 14 November 1972)
• Mohammad Younes Pahlavi (born 17 May 1977)

• Predecessors and short history members.iinet.net