Zehra Hanzade Sultan () called also Hanzade OsmanoÃÂlu; 12 September 1923 â 19 March 1998) was an Ottoman princess, the daughter of à Âehzade ÃÂmer Faruk, the son of the last caliph, Abdulmejid II, and à Âehsuvar Hanñm. Her mother was Sabiha Sultan, daughter of Sultan Mehmed VI and Nazikeda Kadñn.
Zehra Hanzade Sultan was born on 12 September 1923 in the Dolmabahçe Palace, nearly a year after the abolition of the Ottoman Empire. Her father was à Âehzade ÃÂmer Faruk, and her mother was Sabiha Sultan. She had an elder sister, Neslià Âah Sultan, two years elder then her and a younger sister, Necla Sultan, four years younger than her. She was the paternal granddaughter of Abdulmejid II and à Âehsuvar Kadñn, and the maternal granddaughter of Sultan Mehmed VI and Nazikeda Kadñn. She was considered the most beautiful princess in her generation.
A month after her birth, Turkey became a Republic on 29 October 1923. At the exile of the imperial family in March 1924, Hanzade her mother and sister left Turkey. The three of them left the mansion in Rumelihisarñ on 11 March, and took the Orient Express to join her father and grandfather in Montreux, Switzerland. Seven months later, due to the high cost of living there, her parents, sisters and grandparents moved to Nice, France where she spent her childhood. In Nice, they were enrolled in the public school where she and her sisters received their early education from, there they were taught English, French and German. The princesses received their religious education at home and were taught the Ottoman alphabet by Kamil Bey Kiligil, the second husband of Naciye Sultan, who taught the three princesses alongside his own stepchildren Mahpeyker Hanñmsultan, Türkan Hanñmsultan and Sultanzade Ali Bey, every Sunday.
Their grandfather, Abdulmejid used to take her and her sister Neslià Âah to seashore during special occasions. In the fall of 1938, she arrived with her sister and father in Alexandria, Egypt, due to the fear of breaking of another world war, whereas their grandfather moved to Paris.
In 1940, Prince Muhammad Abdel Moneim Pasha Beyefendi sent a proposal to Neslià Âah Sultan, as he was willing to marry her. Neslià Âah didn't agree and relations between her and her father got cold, following which she agreed. Hanzade's family was impoverished because of the ongoing World War II, as their grandfather Abdulmejid was unable to send them money from France. And because of this she wanted to marry, and get out of the situation immediately. However, her father disagreed and initially said "The eldest marries first, then the younger ones, let Neslià Âah then we will be thinking about Hanzade".
However, later, Faruk changed his mind and chose Prince Muhammed Ali Ibrahim Pasha Beyefendi as husband for her. The wedding was situated in Cairo, and the family stayed at Aziza Hanñm's home at Al-Qubba. Prince Muhammad Ali rented a large house in Gezira, which also had a library with beautifully bonded books. The wedding took place on Thursday, 19 September 1940, as Thursday was considered a felicitous day for marriage in Egypt. The next week on Thursday, 26 September 1940 the wedding of Neslià Âah Sultan and Prince Abdel Moniem took place. He became a Damat.
The couple's first child Princess Sabiha Fazile Ibrahim Hanñmsultan was born on 8 August 1941. She was followed by Prince Sultanzade Ahmed Rifat Ibrahim, born on 31 August 1942. In 1958, King Faisal II of Iraq send a proposal for Fazile. The proposal was a surprise for her parents because Fazile was only sixteen and was studying in school. However, the marriage was not held because of the King's murder in the same year in the 14 July Revolution. Fazile later married Hayri ÃÂrgüplu in Paris, France, on 10 December 1965, the son of Suat Hayri ÃÂrgüplü, who served as Turkey's Prime Minister for seven months. Hanzade lived in Egypt until 1952, the Egyptian revolution of 1952 took place on 23 July 1952, and Egypt was proclaimed as a Republic, Hanzade and her family were exiled. At that moment they were in Paris, France, where they had lived for a few years and where they decided to stay and also hosted Hanzade's mother, Sabiha, for a few months. Hanzade spent her winter in Paris, and her summers in Kuà Âadasñ and Istanbul, she stayed at the Kuà Âadasñ Kñsmet Hotel, which he ran alongside Halil ÃÂzbaà Â, the husband of her cousin Hümeyra Hanñmsultan.
Hanzade's father, ÃÂmer Faruk developed an increased interest in his cousin Mihrià Âah Sultan, the daughter of Crown Prince à Âehzade Yusuf Izzeddin. It was also a public knowledge that things weren't going well between Faruk and her mother Sabiha. She and her sisters sided with their mother. Faruk accused Sabiha of turning their daughters against him. But he was already in love with Mihrià Âah and the issue of the council was just an excuse. In 1948, after twenty-eight years of marriage, Faruk divorced Sabiha, and married Mihrià Âah. Hanzade never accepted her father's second wife.
Hanzade was widowed at Prince Muhammad Ali's death in 1977.
Hanzade Sultan died on 19 March 1998 at the age of seventy-four in Paris, France. Her body was taken to Istanbul, and was buried on 26 March 1998 in AÃ Âiyan Asri Cemetery alongside her mother, Sabiha Sultan, she was the first among her sisters to pass away.
By her marriage, Hanzade Sultan had a daughter and a son: