1971: Mao was in power in China; Leonid Brezhnev, in the Soviet Union. The dictator Franco ruled Spain; and Richard Nixon, the USA. Students were protesting against the war in Vietnam and the Shah of Persia. The Shah’s visit to Berlin sparked the 1968 riots in Germany, after the police shot down student Benno Ohnesorg during a demonstration against “America’s puppet Pahlavi”.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, also known as Mohammad Reza Shah, was the last Shah of the Imperial State of Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow in the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979.
Billion-Dollar Camping
In Persepolis, near the tomb of Cyrus I, the Shah planned to celebrate the 2500th anniversary of the founding of the Persian Empire, for three days, from 12 to 14 October, 1971. It would be “the biggest party on earth”, announced the Shah. He wanted to show the world the new face of an ancient empire, a modern and proud Iran, a nation of oil, not of Islamic mullahs.
The Shah hired French architects, interior decorators and couturiers to design 50 tent-like suites for the royal visitors, right next to the ruins. A main tent, measuring 68m by 24m, was to be the banquet hall. The tent city took a year to build and 37 km of silk. The tents were arranged along five avenues, radiating out from a central fountain.
“Billion-Dollar Camping” read the headline in the Schweizer Illustrierte.
“The party of the century”, claimed Life magazine.
And according to Stern: “The mother of all parties”.
50,000 songbirds were flown in from Europe.
Three days later they were all dead.
“The ladies were provided with a separate bunker for their jewellery. As with their clothes, they had to change into something new for each meal,” recalls co-organiser Felix Real, 85. “Right next to the tent city they built an airfield, as well as a 1000-km motorway from Tehran to Persepolis. They also planted an entire forest next to the ruins. And to create atmosphere, 50,000 songbirds were flown in from Europe. Three days later they were all dead — the desert climate had been too much for them. At noon, temperatures topped 40, and at night they dropped below zero.”
Iranian military machines flew in 150 tons of kitchen equipment, some 5000 kilometres, from Paris to Persepolis. Everything was of the very best quality.
Three days before the gala banquet, eighteen tons of food arrived. According to the list, this included: 2700 kg of beef, pork and lamb. 1280 kg of fowl and game. And 150 kg of caviar.
“Everything was flown in from Paris, even parsley and chives. Only the caviar came from Iran.”
Estimates of the costs: 2 billion dollars.
What kind of monarchy is dressed by Lanvin and eats at Maxim’s when its people still sometimes lack food and schools?
According to protocol, the most eminent guest was Haile Selassie, 79, Emperor of Ethiopia. He was accompanied by his daughter and his dog, Cheecheebee. With its diamond-studded collar, it never left the Emperor’s side, not even on the sofa.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, self-proclaimed Shahanshah, King of Kings, Light of the Aryans, Shadow of the Almighty, began his grand speech with the following words: “Cyrus! Great King, King of Kings … you immortal Hero of History, father of the world’s most ancient empire, great liberator of all time, worthy son of mankind. … After 2500 years, the Persian flag waves as proudly as in your era of glory. … Today, as in your day, Persia bears the message of liberty and love of mankind in a troubled world … Cyrus, Great King, King of Kings…, you may rest in peace, for we are vigilant and will remain so forever.”
“Let them go all the way to Mars or beyond the Milky Way; they will still be deprived of true happiness, moral virtue, and spiritual advancement and be unable to solve their own social problems,” roared Khomeini. Eight years after the “party of the century” he would chase the Shah out of the country and transform the Persian Empire into an Islamic theocracy.
Sayyid Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini, also known as Ayatollah Khomeini, was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989.
Diamond studded dog collar, cost approximately $250,000
