The Shah's first two marriages had not produced a son—necessary for royal succession—resulting in great rejoicing at the birth of Crown Prince Reza in October of the following year.

As a philanthropist, she progressed Iranian civil society through many charities, and founded Iran's first American-style university, enabling more women to become students in the country.

By 1978, growing anti-imperial unrest fueled by communism, socialism, and Islamism throughout Iran was showing clear signs of impending revolution, prompting Farah and the Shah to leave the country in January 1979 under the threat of a death sentence.

In their reduced circumstances, they were forced to move from their large family villa in northern Tehran into a shared apartment with one of Farideh Ghotbi's brothers.

Upon finishing her studies at the Lycée Razi, she pursued an interest in architecture at the École Spéciale d'Architecture in Paris,[8] where she was a student of Albert Besson.

Therefore, when the Shah, as head of state, made official visits to foreign countries, he frequently met with a selection of local Iranian students.

The young Queen of Iran (as she was styled at the time) was the object of much curiosity and her wedding received worldwide press attention.

[9] After the pomp and celebrations associated with the imperial wedding, the success of this union became contingent upon the queen's ability to produce a male heir.

She used her proximity and influence with her husband Mohammad Reza, to secure funding and focus attention on causes, particularly in the areas of women's rights and cultural development.

[13] The Empress wrote in 1978 that her duties were: I could not write in detail of all the organizations over which I preside and in which I take a very active part, in the realms of education, health, culture and social matters.

The Empress recalled of her days as a university student in 1950s France about being asked where she was from: When I told them Iran ... the Europeans would recoil in horror as if Iranians were barbarians and loathsome.

Through her patronage, numerous organizations were created and fostered to further her ambition of bringing historical and contemporary Iranian Art to prominence both inside Iran and in the Western world.

Her ministry encouraged many forms of artistic expression, including traditional Iranian arts (such as weaving, singing, and poetry recital) as well as Western theatre.

Nearby is the personal library of the Empress, consisting of 22,000 books, comprising principally works on Western and Eastern art, philosophy and religion; the interior was designed by Aziz Farmanfarmayan.

To that end, she secured from her husband's government permission and funds to "buy back" a wide selection of Iranian artifacts from foreign and domestic collections.

Under her guidance,[citation needed] the museum acquired nearly 150 works by such artists as Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, George Grosz, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, and Roy Lichtenstein.

This caused much speculation as to the fate of the artwork which was only put to rest after a large portion of the collection was briefly seen again in an exhibition that took place in Tehran during September 2005.

In October 1979, the couple was allowed into the United States for medical treatment, inflaming already tense relations between the US government and the revolutionaries in Tehran.

After the Shah's death, Farah spent two years in Egypt, where President Anwar Sadat allowed her and the children to stay in the Koubbeh Palace.

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 divides her time between Washington, D.C. and Paris and makes an annual July visit to Mohammad Reza Shah's mausoleum at Cairo's al-Rifa'i Mosque.

Farah attended the funeral of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C. She supports charities, including the International Fund Raising for Alzheimer Disease gala in Paris.

[citation needed] Elaine Sciolino, The New York Times's Paris bureau chief, gave the book a less than flattering review, describing it as "well translated" but "full of anger and bitterness".

[28] But National Review's Reza Bayegan, an Iranian writer, praised the memoir as "abound[ing] with affection and sympathy for her countrymen.

"[29] In 2009 the Persian-Swedish director Nahid Persson Sarvestani released a feature length documentary about Farah Pahlavi's life, entitled The Queen and I.

[30] In 2012 the Dutch director Kees Roorda made a theatre play inspired by the life of Farah Pahlavi in exile.