For yesterday’s Easter post I shared the collection of top hat images that fills my apartment, one of which is a rakish photo of Aly Khan, an international playboy who married actress Rita Hayworth. His son, known as Prince Karim, the fourth Aga Khan, was featured in one of Ivy Style’s earliest posts, which we revisited last year.
And let us revisit the handsome young prince, whose years at Harvard got him on the cover of LIFE Magazine.
First off, you’re probably wondering what exactly he’s a prince of. It’s complicated, so for expediency’s sake let’s just quote Wikipedia:
He is the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailism, a denomination of Isma’ilism within Shia Islam consisting of an estimated 25 million adherents (about 20% of the world’s Shia Muslim population).
He explains it in his own words in this interview clip done during a leave from school:
He’s had a rather distinguished life. The wiki highlights are here, and in 2013 Vanity Fair did an extensive profile.
Aga Khan is still alive and aged 80 and is a billionaire. — CC
From J.Squeeze archival lore: Al Goro, manager of the J.Press Cambridge store until his death in the mid-60s, once related that at point of sale to Mr. Khan, Goro began to write the gentleman’s name “Kahn” on the alteration tag figuring he was just another Jewish kid at Harvard, when Khan corrected him and fed him the real story.
Once again King Richard is six degrees or less from everyone!
I like that symbol on his blazer. Khan family coat of arms?
@GS
I think the crest on Khan’s blazer is from Le Rosey, where he attended school.
Thank you. Odd that he wore an old school blazer to a new school. I wonder if he ever invested in a Harvard blazer.
If you ever find yourself in Toronto, I highly recommend a visit to the Aga Khan Museum. It’s way off the beaten track, several miles from downtown, but well worth the trek. There’s so much beautiful stuff there, and the exhibits work hard to put everything in its historical context, so you learn a lot too. Since we all like clothes here, I should mention that one of my favourite items there is this sort of men’s cloak or gown from…I can’t remember when, but it’s very old, and incredibly ornate and beautiful. The whole museum is worth seeing.
https://www.agakhanmuseum.org/
GS,
It’s very common for kids to wear clothes from boarding school at uni. Besides personal preference (and a laundry backlog with nothing else to put on), its just nostalgic and brings back fond memories – so you never really get rid of it.
That being said, Le Rosey is, by many accounts, *the* most exclusive school in the world. Harvard is a step down.
“Your name, it is heard in high places
You know the Aga Khan
And he sent you a race horse for Christmas
And you keep it just for fun, for a laugh, hahahaha!” – Peter Sarstedt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8XQZYIiNgo
Interesting, I’ve never heard of Le Rosey but I’ll take your word for it being better than Harvard. Come to think of if, I did wear my old school tie to my new school but it was subtle.
Le Rosey has been attended for well over a century by Europe’s royalty. Has a well earned reputation as the world’s most expensive and exclusive school. Readers of my friend Taki are now and then informed of it’s history. Many times it is even true.