IRAN: The Shah Takes a Bride

On the floor in front of the couple lay the ritual symbols of the Moslem wedding—a Koran resting on gold brocade, a golden mirror to symbolize brightness and joy, bowls fashioned out of crystal candy to symbolize the sweetness of marriage. But the most significant of the objects before the 40-year-old Shahanshah of Iran and his third bride, Farah Diba, 21, was the Symbol of Plenty, a ten-foot-long loaf of plain bread on which were written the words: "May Allah give you a male heir."

For all its publicized glitter and the...

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