Peacocks and Polka Dots: The Original Hollywood Princess

One of my huge pet peeves is that people often say that Grace Kelly was the original and or only Hollywood princess. They are in fact very incorrect. The first and original Hollywood princess was, my favorite of all vintage movie star, Rita Hayworth. She married Prince Ali Salman Aga Khan more commonly called Aly Khan , the son of Aga Khan III the head of the Ismaili Muslims.

In the late 1940s while her divorce from Orson Wells was being finalized Rita decided to take a trip around Europe, where she met the playboy Prince Aly Khan, who also was in the process of a divorce. The two hit it off immediately and began to travel the world together.At the same time Miss Ingrid Bergman (also a great actress, who stared in my favorite movie Casablanca) was being denounced on the floor of the United States Senate, being called an "instrument of evil" for the exact same behavior. The only difference was that Rita was with a man who not only was her husband (like Miss Bergman) but a man who was not a Christian (very scandalous at the time).

The lovely Miss Hayworth, before she married Khan.

Prince Aly Khan

Rita's divorce from Welles was finalized on December 1, 1948. On May 27, 1949 Rita married Aly making him, her third husband. To further add to the scandal she was already pregnant when they got married. On December 28, 1949 Rita gave birth to her second daughter Princess Yasmin Khan. While Rita was married to Prince Aly Khan she put her movie career on hold, a move that her career is said to have never recovered from. By January 27, 1953 just about 3 and a half years after they were married, Rita and the prince were divorced. Rita then returned to the United States and her movie career. So while Rita did not remain a princess like Grace Kelly, Rita was still the original Hollywood princess.