Mohammad Hassan Mirza

Mohammad Hassan Mirza Qajar (20 November 1899 – 7 January 1943) was a younger brother of the last Qajar Shah of Iran Ahmad Shah Qajar, and former Crown Prince of the Qajar dynasty. Soon after Reza Shah deposed the Qajar dynasty and installed himself as Shah of Iran in 1925, Mohammad Hassan and his family were sent into permanent exile to England. In 1930, he declared himself the rightful heir to the crown as pretender to the throne. He died on 7 January 1943 in Maidenhead, England and was buried in Kerbala, Iraq.

Tension with Ahmad Shah Qajar
Even before the dethronement of his brother Ahmad Shah Qajar by Reza Shah, he was still an inconsequential figure in Iranian politics. This was not from a lack of trying however; in early March 1921, Mohammad Hassan Mirza approached the British legation with proposals to supplant his brother, the king of Iran at the time. The High Commissioner's office in Baghdad informed Herman Norman in a telegram that Zia'eddin Tabatabaee informed them that Mohammad Hassan Mirza was "very dissatisfied with the shah and fears for safety of Persia from the Bolsheviks...", and that "he [Mohammad Hassan Mirza] is prepared to form new government as he considers the Shah useless...". Mohammad Hassan Mirza proposals were ignored, except by Percy Cox who was the former attache of Britain in Iran. Herman Norman who was current British diplomat to Iran thought of the dethronement of Ahmad Shah Qajar by his brother as a tactical mistake which would divide Persia; "[I am prevented] from encouraging any movement which has for its object dethronement of His Majesty. It is also my duty to do my best to preserve the unity of Persia".

Honours

 * Persian Empire:
 * Member 1st Class of the Order of the Lion and the Sun
 * Member 1st Class of the Order of the Crown of Persia
 * Kingdom of Egypt: Grand Cordon of the Order of Muhammad 'Ali, (1921)
 * Monaco: Grand Cross of the Order of Saint-Charles, (14 January 1915)

Offspring

 * Prince Soltan Hosein Mirza (25 August 1916, Tabriz-1986, Canada)
 * Princess Shirin (28 may 1938 Tehran, 28 December 2022 New Zealand)
 * Prince Soltan Hamid Mirza (23 April 1918, Tabriz-5 May 1988, London)
 * Prince Rokn al-Din Mirza (1923, Tehran-1996, Canada)
 * Princess Shmas Aghdas (1919, Tehran-1991, Paris)
 * Princess Giti Afruz (1922, Tehran-2022, New York City )

Government Positions Held

 * Governor-General of Azerbaijan (1918)