This film is part of Free
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_480x270/public/hero-images/QueenStateIran_3-1920.jpg?itok=t2U7NqPY)
The Queen's State Visit to Iran
2-6 March 1961 saw the Queen and Prince Philip make their first and only state visit to Iran. Their host was Mohammed Reza Pahlavi (1919-80), the Shah of Iran, who had already made an official visit to Britain in 1959.
Overview
While the commentary regularly stresses the close historical links between the two countries, it unsurprisingly doesn’t mention Britain’s extensive (albeit undercover) involvement in the coup d’état of 1953 that saw the overthrow of Iran’s nationalist Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddegh and the Shah’s elevation from constitutional to absolute monarch. He was understandably grateful to Britain, but many Iranians were considerably less so, and after the Islamic revolution of 1979, the UK would be widely regarded as ‘the little Satan’ (with the US as its bigger brother), with diplomatic relations rarely better than poor, frequently abysmal, and sometimes formally non-existent.
As a result, this film has inescapably become a fascinating time capsule. The commentary is at pains to give the Shah his full imperial title (‘Shahanshah’, literally ‘King of Kings’), and the Shah himself is equally keen to emphasise pomp and ceremony, state coaches and crown jewels. The Queen visits organisations with a strong British connection (the Church of England Missionary Society, the Princess Ashraf School of Nursing), though it’s Prince Philip’s tour of the CENTO Institute of Nuclear Science at Tehran University that is most eye-catching given that Iran’s nuclear ambitions have rarely been out of 21st century headlines. The Shah was keen on developing civilian nuclear energy in order to place less domestic reliance on oil (already a valuable export in 1961, even more so after the 1973 price shock), and Iran was one of the first beneficiaries of President Eisenhower’s Atoms for Peace programme, which provided technical assistance in exchange for sharing research about nuclear power’s peaceful benefits. The royal party is also given guided tours of Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz and the ruins of Persepolis, with much stress laid on Iran’s longevity as a civilisation, and the magnificence of its ancient architecture. Sights include the Golestan (or Rose Garden) Palace, the tomb of Reza Shah the Great (the Shah’s father), the sixteenth-century mosques of Sheikh Lotf Allah and Shah Abbas, the Ali Qapu (or Lofty Gateway), and a large-scale sports display at the Amjadieh stadium (now the Shahid Shiroudi stadium) involving dancing, traditional Iranian exercises and an impressively synchronised display of calisthenics.
Related
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/promo259886260.jpg?itok=4UbyV1ah)
Governor's Notebook 1 Governor's Notebook 1
Amateur film 1953 2 mins Silent Location: Stormont
An unforgettable day for Lady Wakehurst as the glamorous new monarch delights the crowds at Stormont
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/promo259437145.jpg?itok=hmfRXdJj)
Royal Visit to Bearsden June 1965 Royal Visit to Bearsden June 1965
Amateur film 1965 11 mins Location: Bearsden
The Queen and Prince Philip enjoy a day out in the Glasgow suburbs in this sumptuous 1960s amateur film, complete with pipe band, flag-waving schoolchildren and very big hats.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/promo259437176.jpg?itok=isiOynxB)
Stranraer Royal Visit 1955 Stranraer Royal Visit 1955
Non-Fiction 1955 11 mins Silent Location: Stranraer
Visit Stranraer, Dumfries and Galloway, with a Royal accompaniment as the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh visit in 1955, enjoying an agricultural show and pageant along the way.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/N_446816_01of01.jpg?itok=SXQuNVaC)
Jubilee Jubilee
Current affairs 1977 13 mins Location: Bath
A special report looks into the preparations for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee and her subsequent tour of the South West.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/SierraLeonneGreetQ_3-1920.jpg?itok=cxT1wuLd)
Sierra Leone Greets the Queen Sierra Leone Greets the Queen
Government sponsored film 1961 21 mins
The Queen and Prince Philip's visit in late 1961, the year Sierra Leone became independent from Britain.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/RoyalDestiny_4-1920.jpg?itok=RV4HJIJB)
Royal Destiny Royal Destiny
Documentary 1953 17 mins
Produced by British Movietone for “Her Majesty’s Central Office of Information”, Royal Destiny traces Queen Elizabeth II’s young life up to her ascension to the throne.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/5abf952c-e2ec-432d-a9a2-12fdd5bd2d9b.jpg?itok=qwVoBsNn)
Baltimore Q&A Baltimore Q&A
Short interview 2024 28 mins
Directors Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor dig deep into their thrilling biopic Baltimore, in discussion with Nadia M Oliva.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/image_0.jpg?itok=kuLgDrxs)
Joanna Scanlan - Exclusive Q&A Joanna Scanlan - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 51 mins
Actor and writer Joanna Scanlan talks to Mia Bays, director of the BFI's Filmmaking Fund, about her career in film and television.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/baldwins_nigger_1920.jpg?itok=mdVknguo)
Baldwin's N***** Baldwin's N*****
Documentary 1969 44 mins
Horace Ové's striking portrait of the American writer James Baldwin at his sharp-witted best addressing a group of radical West Indian students in 1960s London.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Shoot-Your-Shot-02.jpg?itok=KREdlpBS)
Shoot Your Shot Shoot Your Shot
Drama 2022 12 mins
An emotional stand-off takes flight, as teen best friends Ronit and Brennan come to terms with navigating that fuzzy feeling in their stomachs, all whilst learning to skateboard.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/%25E2%2580%258ELook-Like-You-02.jpeg?itok=2R3w9luT)
Look Like You Look Like You
Drama 2022 13 mins
While visiting the adoptive family of her eight-year-old biological son, Tara relays advice she gathered from growing up as a queer outcast.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Yellow-04.jpg?itok=Bt5NDkC8)
Yellow Yellow
Drama 2023 13 mins
In Taliban controlled Afghanistan, Laili walks into a Chadari store in Kabul to buy her first full body veil from a Talib shopkeeper and face a new future.