When Rita Hayworth married Prince Aly Khan in 1949, the world collectively lost its mind. Imagine the biggest movie star on the planet—the woman whose face was literally taped to an atomic bomb—ditching Hollywood to become a real-life princess. It sounds like a Disney script, doesn't it? But honestly, the reality was way more complicated, a bit messy, and ultimately kind of heartbreaking.
You've probably heard the "Aga Khan" title tossed around. To be technically accurate, Aly Khan was the son of the Aga Khan III, the spiritual leader of millions of Ismaili Muslims. Aly was wealthy, charming, and possessed a legendary reputation as a playboy. Rita was "The Love Goddess," coming off a bruising marriage to Orson Welles.
They met in Cannes in 1948. Sparks flew. Or maybe it was just the sheer magnetism of two people who were used to getting exactly what they wanted.
The Wedding That Broke the Internet (1940s Style)
Their wedding on May 27, 1949, was a circus. Actually, a circus might have been more organized. They held the civil ceremony in Vallauris, France, followed by a religious one. The guest list was a who's who of European royalty and Hollywood elite.
People obsessed over every detail.
The dress? An ice-blue Jacques Fath creation.
The cake? Massive.
The pool at Aly’s Château de l’Horizon? Literally filled with gallons of perfume.
Yes, you read that right. Perfume.
But beneath the scented water and the flashbulbs, things were already shaky. Rita was two months pregnant when they walked down the aisle. In the late 40s, that was a massive scandal. She had also walked away from her contract with Columbia Pictures, effectively turning her back on the career that made her "Gilda."
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Life as a Princess: Not All Champagne and Roses
Most people think being a princess is all about tiaras. For Rita, it was mostly about waiting. Aly Khan was a man of intense energy. He loved horse racing. He loved fast cars. He loved, well, women.
He was constantly on the move, following the racing season from Ireland to Kentucky to Paris. Rita? She just wanted a home. She wanted the quiet life she never got as a child performer or a studio star.
By the time their daughter, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, was born in December 1949, the cracks were wide open. Rita found herself lonely in a massive palace, surrounded by people who spoke languages she didn't know and obsessed with a lifestyle she didn't care for. She wasn't into the horses. She wasn't into the social climbing. She was just Rita Cansino from Brooklyn, and she was miserable.
The Breakdown
The marriage didn't even last four years. The "extreme mental cruelty" mentioned in the divorce papers wasn't just a legal term. Aly’s womanizing was public and constant.
- He was spotted dancing with actress Joan Fontaine in the same nightclub where he first met Rita.
- He rarely stayed in one place long enough to actually be a husband.
- The cultural gap between a Hollywood star and an international diplomat/religious figure was a canyon neither could bridge.
The Million-Dollar Choice
When Rita finally had enough, she fled to Nevada to establish residency for a divorce. This wasn't a clean break. There was a massive custody battle over Yasmin.
Aly Khan offered Rita a staggering $1,000,000 to raise Yasmin as a Muslim. He wanted her to spend several months a year in Europe. Rita, who was raised Roman Catholic, turned it down. She famously said she didn't want her daughter's faith to be bought.
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She walked away with no alimony. None.
"Just because I was married to Aly Khan, people think I'm rich," Rita later said. "Well, I'm not. I never got a dime from Aly or from any of my husbands."
She went back to work. She had to. The "Princess" was broke.
Why the Aga Khan and Rita Hayworth Connection Matters Now
We look back at these two and see the blueprint for modern celebrity culture. It was the first time the American "Royalty" of Hollywood collided with the old-world royalty of the East in such a public, explosive way.
Aly Khan eventually died in a car crash in 1960. He was only 48. He never became the Aga Khan; his father passed over him in the line of succession, choosing Aly’s son, Karim, instead. Some say Aly's playboy lifestyle was the reason.
Rita’s later years were shadowed by Alzheimer’s, long before anyone knew what to call it. It was Princess Yasmin who eventually stepped up, becoming a champion for Alzheimer’s research and caring for the mother who had given up a fortune to keep her close.
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Actionable Insights from the Story
If there's a lesson in the saga of the Aga Khan and Rita Hayworth, it’s about the cost of the "dream."
- Check the fine print of your fantasies. Rita thought a prince would save her from Hollywood. He just brought a different kind of spotlight.
- Values over money. Turning down a million dollars in the 1950s—which is roughly $12 million today—to protect her daughter's upbringing is a move that defines Rita's character more than any film role ever could.
- Independence is the only real security. Rita’s return to the screen in Affair in Trinidad wasn't just a career move; it was a survival tactic.
The story of the Prince and the Movie Star didn't have a happy ending, but it did have a real one. It reminds us that behind the perfume-filled pools and the ice-blue dresses, there are usually just two people who realized, far too late, that they were living in two different worlds.
If you're researching this era, look for the 1965 biography The Golden Prince by Leonard Slater. It gives a more nuanced view of Aly than the "playboy" headlines usually allow. It doesn't excuse his behavior, but it helps explain the man who was "too alive to die."
To really understand Rita's perspective during this time, her comeback films in the early 50s show a woman who had clearly lived through some things. You can see the weariness in her eyes. It wasn't acting; it was experience.
Next Steps for the History Buff:
- Research the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club to see the Hayworth connection to horse racing.
- Look into the Aga Khan Foundation’s current work to see the legacy of the family beyond the 1950s gossip.
- Watch Gilda and then Affair in Trinidad back-to-back to see the "before and after" of the Princess years.