Monday, December 5, 2011

A divorce for the Aga Khan

Karim Aga Khan IV and his second wife, Begum Inaara, were divorced on November 30.  At the end of September, a French court awarded the Begum 60 million Euros in the divorce settlement.

Now the marriage is officially over, and the Begum Inaara is no more.  As a part of the divorce decree, she must stop using the title Begum, and revert to her previous name, Gabriele Prinzessin zu Leiningen.

They have one son, Prince Aly Muhammed.

The Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Ismailis sect of Islam, was seen as the guilty party during the marriage.  He apparently commited adultery while he was married to the former Gabriele Thyssen.

Prince Karim has been seen in public with  Beatrice von der Schulenberg. 
It is not known if the Aga Khan will marry Beatrice.   She is the daughter of Danish folk singer Frederik von Pallandt and Dorte Holm-Jenson.   He later became involved with a drug gang and was shot dead by contact killer in 1994.   Beatrice was raised in London where she met and married German-born Jeffrey von der Schulenberg, a management consultant.  They had four children before their divorce in 2005.

Beatrice met the Aga Khan at a part in 2006.

 For seven years, he was involved in a relationship with Austrian-American model Pilar Goess, who died of a brain tumor in 1999.

The Aga Khan's first marriage to Sarah Crocker Poole, who became Begum Salima ended in 1995.  She ceased to be the Begum and became known as Princess Salima Aga Khan. She lost the style Highness after the divorce.

The Aga Khan expects woman to be "both subservient and decorative," according to a profile of his eldest son, Prince Rahim by Mark Hollingsworth.  At the beginning of his marriage,  Prince Karim told Gabriele: "I determine things. You obey."

Karim likes his ladies.  Not long after his marriage to Sally Crocker Poole, he began a series of adulterous affairs.  One of his mistresses, Italian Milena Maffei, "hung around for years in the hopes that he would divorce" his first wife.  Sally received £20 million in her divorce settlement.   After the divorce, she auctioned off her jewels, which brought her a further £17.5 million.  She has homes in Geneva and London, where she lives with her third husband,  French lawyer Philippe Linzop.

3 comments:

John said...

Are there any precedents about what name a twice divorced princess would be called? Might she use both as one long name? Gabriele Princess of Leiningen, Princess Aly Khan?

glamah16 said...

Was just reading tonight that Rita Hayworth's grandson, son of Yasmin Aga Khan was found dead in NYC. Apparent suicide.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2070364/Rita-Hayworths-grandson-Andrew-Embricio-dead-New-York-apartment.html

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

The title of Begum is reserved for the wife of the Aga Khan. Gabriele did not become a princess in this marriage. Also, it would have been up to the Aga Khan to allow for her to be styled as Princess Inaara (just as he allowed his first wife to be styled as Princess Salimah, but without the Highness). Gabriele is now back to being a mere commoner - Prinzessin zu Leiningen is a surname only -- she could choose to return to Thyssen if she wants to do so.