Princess Zahra Aga Khan (born 18 September 1970 in

Geneva, Switzerland Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

) is the eldest child of

Aga Khan IV Shāh Karim al-Husayni (born 13 December 1936), known by the religious title Mawlānā Hazar Imam by his Ismaili followers and elsewhere as Aga Khan IV, is the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailis, a denomination within Shia Islam. He ha ...

and his first wife, Princess

Salimah Aga Khan Princess Salimah Aga Khan (''née'' Sarah Frances Croker Poole; born 28 January 1940), also known as Begum Salimah Aga Khan, is a former fashion model and an ex-wife of the 49th Ismaili Shia Imam, the IV Aga Khan Prince Karim Aga Khan. Earl ...

Education

Princess Zahra attended

Le Rosey Institut Le Rosey (), commonly referred to as Le Rosey or simply Rosey, is a private boarding school in Rolle, Switzerland. Founded in 1880 by Paul-Émile Carnal on the site of the 14th-century Château du Rosey in the town of Rolle in the cant ...

School in Switzerland and received her undergraduate degree cum laude in Development Studies from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

(AB’94). She also completed a four-month program at

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...

to enhance her understanding of healthcare systems and the delivery of advanced medical care, and an Executive Finance course at IMD in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

Career

Princess Zahra Aga Khan is a Member of the Board of Directors of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and also sits on the board of several of its affiliated structures, including the

Aga Khan Foundation The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) is a private, not-for-profit international development agency, which was founded in 1967 by Shah Karim Al Hussaini, Aga Khan IV, the 49th Hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. AKF seeks to provide long-term ...

, the

Aga Khan Trust for Culture The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a family of institutions created by Aga Khan IV with distinct but complementary mandates to improve the welfare and prospects of people in the developin ...

, the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat, the

Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM) is a microfinancing agency of the Aga Khan Development Network. History AKAM was formally inaugurated in February 2005 by Aga Khan IV and the former president of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn. The not ...

and the Aga Khan Schools. She also serves as a Trustee of the Aga Khan University. Owner Princess Zahra Aga Khan

She has policy and management responsibility for the Health, Education, and Planning and Building Services Companies of the AKDN and their institutions, working in more than a dozen countries in the Developing World. She is also involved at the strategic level with other agencies of the AKDN, working in the areas of social and economic development. Princess Zahra is a board member of the

Global Centre for Pluralism The Global Centre for Pluralism (french: Centre mondial du pluralisme) is an international centre for research, education and exchange about the values, practices and policies that underpin pluralist societies. Based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, th ...

, sits in the

France Galop France Galop is the governing body of flat and steeplechase horse racing in France. It was founded on May 3, 1995, as the result of the amalgamation of four different industry organizations. Prominent owner/breeder Jean-Luc Lagardère was elected ...

Committee and serves as the President of the Consiglio Direttivo of

Yacht Club Costa Smeralda Yacht Club Costa Smeralda was established by the Aga Khan in 1967. It is situated at Porto Cervo in Costa Smeralda, northern Sardinia and provides services for recreational sailors. The club challenged for the 1983 America's Cup with ''Azzurra' ...

Personal life

She married British businessman and former model Mark Boyden, an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

, in a civil ceremony on 21 June 1997. The wedding was held at the Chateau de Chantilly near Paris, in the presence of guests including King

Juan Carlos Juan Carlos I (;, * ca, Joan Carles I, * gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Novem ...

and

Queen Sofía of Spain Sofía of Greece and Denmark ( el, Σοφία; born 2 November 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who was List of Spanish royal consorts, Queen of Spain from 1975 to 2014 as the wife of King Juan Carlos I. She is the first child of ...

, and

Prince Hassan bin Talal Prince Hassan bin Talal ( ar, الحسن بن طلال, born 20 March 1947) is a member of the Jordanian royal family who was previously Crown Prince from 1965 to 1999, being removed just three weeks before King Hussein's death. Family Prince H ...

of Jordan. The couple divorced in 2005. Princess Zahra and Mark Boyden have a daughter, Sara, and a son, Iliyan. Like her father, Princess Zahra is a fan of

thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in t ...

and has begun racing horses in her own name, the owner-breeder of the

Prix Vermeille The Prix Vermeille is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), an ...

winner

Mandesha Mandesha (born 2003) is a French Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers o ...

. On October 10, 2019, the Roy M. Huffington Award was presented to Princess Zahra by the Asia Society Texas Center. The Award recognizes leaders who have been a major force on the international stage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aga Khan, Zahra 1970 births Living people Noorani family Alumni of Institut Le Rosey Harvard University alumni French racehorse owners and breeders French Ismailis People from Geneva Swiss people of Iranian descent Swiss people of Pakistani descent Swiss people of English descent