::The Magazine

Princess Diaries

      We’ll begin with what you probably already do, or should, know about Princess Ann Claire.

      Firstly, her birth name is Anahita Marie Claire Van Shaick Pahlavi. She’s got her own hit, hybrid-comedy reality show on E! Entertainment Television, appropriately called Love is in the Heir. She’s putting the finishing touches on her solo country-music debut, Change Your Life, to be distributed by Sony/BMG through her own record label, Blind Faith Records, and with production by Grammy-award winning producer Vassal Benford, who has worked with the likes of Toni Braxton, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey.

      She speaks more languages than you can count on one hand, and she can windsurf. She’s starting her own production company, has a writing credit on a studio film and other films in development with top Hollywood writers and producers, and has appeared is such films as Donnie Darko and Dead 27.

      But what is also evident about Princess Ann Claire is her humility, her inner beauty, and her potent faith in God and the direction he has chosen for her. How would you feel if your family didn’t support your dreams or what you envisioned your life to be? That’s Princess Ann Claire’s predicament, and she’s not giving up. While 26-year-old sister Mitra is an attorney and 27-year-old sister Mandana is an interior decorator, Ann Claire has a more unconventional plan for success.
Recently, NYLA Magazine had an opportunity to sit down with the Princess in Beverly Hills and talk about her ties to the royal family, her career and her life.

ANN CLAIRE, YOU’RE AN INTERESTING PERSIAN MIX.
Yes, well my mother’s family is from New Zealand and Italy and my father’s Persian. My grandmother, Princess Shams (Reza Pahlavi’s sister) was astonishing, a true lady with a heart of gold. She was so kind, so generous… she was admired by millions during her time. She organized troops of women to go assist the Red Cross during disasters, she established the animal welfare division of the Red Cross in the Middle East, and she was a dedicated animal rescue volunteer.

IT’S OBVIOUS YOU HAVE SOME OF HER CHARACTER.
I get very happy when people say that because I look at the way she lived her life, which was one of absolute integrity and passion. If I could live my life, approaching that level of passion and goodness, I would be a very happy woman

HOW MUCH DO YOU IDENTIFY WITH YOUR PERSIAN ROOTS?
I have a tremendous amount of respect for my cousin Reza (Pahlavi) and my great aunt Farrah and the work that they’ve done. I’m as careful in my career as can be to conduct myself in a manner that would bring them pride and happiness and be proud of me. My goal in entertainment is to bring out values that I grew up with and I believe in. I identify with my Persian roots very much so in many ways.
Iranian people have showed themselves o be tremendously courageous and resourceful, and they’re amazingly intelligent and communicative and just blessed people. I like to think that I have some of that in me and the fire that drives me has something to do with being born in Iran.
Every culture has positive and negative tendencies I like to think I try to take the best aspects of being Persian – my drive, ambition and intelligence – and being children of the revolution, we know how hard it is to rebuild yourself in a new place and to a certain degree reinvent yourself and develop a network of support and faith. Those qualities have demonstrated themselves very clearly in the Iranian people and in that respect I deeply identify with and am deeply respectful of my roots and I think if I was a different person, from a different family or different background or country, I don’t know if I would have the fire or the resilience to continue as an artist. You’re going to always have disappointments and people aren’t always going to like you.

HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN YOUR PENCHANT FOR COUNTRY MUSIC?
I was born in Tehran and lived there until I was 6, and my father, Prince Shahbaz, was a songwriter and pianist. He’s always loved music, and when I was growing up, he put on country music for me in Iran. At the time, in Iran, we had very little access to western music, books and television, but my father had a collection of music and he explained what a song was, the storytelling power of a song. Why I became so passionate is because it was deep within me; it’s like when Persian people listen to Persian music and they get emotional, that’s how I get with country music.
Now, having the chance to pursue country music as a writer and artist, I get absolutely passionate about it. It’s just something that I believe I am supposed to do. It’s the hardest business you can pursue as a foreigner. You don’t fool around with country music. Real music and real songwriting come from country music, from Nashville. Making a country cross-over record is what I want, an album based in country but with elements of pop and hip hop.

Read more on the Princess in the October 2005 issue.

-Giselle Cohen