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Shahbanu (in Persian: شهبانو - Šahbānū) means Queen in Persian. It was a title that was only conferred on the third royal consort of Mohammad Reza Shah, Farah Pahlavi, in 1967.

She was the first Empress to be crowned in Iran since the Arab invasion in the 7th century. The two Sassanian Empresses, Purandokht and Azarmidokht, circa 630 A.D., were the last two that carried the title before Farah Diba.

The Sasanian title for Shahbanu was bâmbişnân bâmbişn, meaning the Queen of Queens, borne by the monarch's principal wife, to distinguish her from the other queens in the royal household.

Today, HIM Empress Farah is often accorded her title by courtesy, as other countries allow royals to use, informally, titles connected with abolished monarchies, but the title is no longer valid in Iran.

[edit] See also

• Shahanshah
• Shah

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