A former Queen of Iran, who was exiled to Europe following a divorce that was prompted after learning she couldn't conceive, was known 'princess with the sad eyes' after becoming a socialite in Europe following the split.

Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari served as queen from 1951 to 1958, before divorcing the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and being exiled.

Following the divorce, Soraya became a focus of the paparazzi, and attended galas and events covered in the beautiful gems given to her by the Shah of Iran during their marriage.

While Soraya's life sounds glamorous, a deeper dive into her marriage with the Shah reveals it was fraught with tragedy, illness, and an inability to have children, the new book,Christie's: The Jewellery Archives Revealed by Vincent Meylan, reveals.

Soraya, who was brought up between Europe and the town of Isfahan in Iran, met Princess Shams, the older sister of the Iranian sovereign, during a stay in London.

The princess's brother, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, succeeded Reza Shah on the throne at the beginning of World War II, during a period of political unrest.

His first marriage, to Princess Fawzia of Egypt, ended in divorce. Because he only had one daughter with his first wife, and his younger brother, Ali Reza, was expected to succeed him, the Shah had to remarry to ensure stability of the crown in the country.

It was then that Princess Shams, believing that 18-year-old Soraya was the perfect wife for her brother, and invited her on a trip to Tehran so the pair could meet.

Two days after arriving in the Iranian couple, Soraya met the Shah during a dinner with the queen mother, Tadj ol-Molouk.

According to CNN, a day after the dinner, Soraya's father told her: 'The Shah liked you very much. Are you ready to marry him?'

And just 24 hours later, the couple were engaged, and Soraya received her first gem from the Shah - a stunning diamond for her ring finger.

Shortly after the engagement, however, Soraya fell ill with typhoid and was bedridden for several weeks.

As legend goes, the Shah brought her a jewel every day during her sickness and placed it on her pillow.

The couple finally married on February 12, 1951, and Soraya became the young queen of Iran.

She was so weak, during her wedding, however, that a court doctor told Soraya to wear a woolen vest under her dress until the last possible moment, and to wear wool socks under her dress.

She had to cut 26 feet (eight meters) off the 65-foot (20-meter) train of her 66lb (30kg) Christian Dior wedding dress in order to stand during the ceremony and reception.

Following the wedding, the Shah and Queen lived a fairytale romance - but their idyllic life quickly fell flat when they had trouble conceiving a child.

In October 1954, when she was 22 years old, a doctor told Soraya that it might take years for her to become pregnant, leaving her and the Shah without an heir to the throne.

Two days later, the Shah became angry at his birthday party when he learned that his brother, Ali Reza, next in line for the throne would not be at dinner because he was running late leaving a hunting party near the Caspian Sea.

The following day, the family learned that Prince Ali Reza had died when the plane bringing him back to Tehran crashed.

The Shah soon realized that though Ali Reza had a daughter with a young French woman, who would succeed the crown was unclear.

Due to familial and political pressure over the couple's trouble conceiving, the Shah and Soraya decided it was time to divorce.

The dissolution of the marriage was announced on March 14, 1958, and Soraya stepped down from her position as queen seven years after stepping into her role. She then was exiled to Switzerland.

The Shah allowed Soraya to live a comfortable life, traveling between Rome, Munich and Paris, where she became an icon and a socialite known well for her stunning collection of jewels.

She made glamorous entrances wearing gems from Cartier, Bulgari and Harry Winston.

In the 1980s, during the Islamic Revolution when Iran reduced her revenue, she sold a number of her jewels, including a Harry Winston diamond necklace.

The necklace sold at an auction at Christie's in Geneva in November 1988.

Soyara died in Paris on October 25, 2001, 21 years after the Shah of Iran. Her

Her brother, Bijan, was the legal inheritor of her estate. But when he died, the entire estate was passed on to the German state.
As for the Shah, an heir didn't turn out to be necessary - his government collapsed during political uprisings in 1978 and 1979 and the Islamic Republic succeeded his regime. The Shah died a year later in July 1980.