Early Life
Born Prince Karim Aga Khan, the Aga Khan IV is the eldest son of Prince Aly Khan, (1911–1960) and his first wife, Princess Tajuddawlah Aly Khan, formerly the Hon. Joan Barbara Yarde-Buller (1908–1997), the eldest daughter of the 3rd Baron Churston. Born in Geneva, Switzerland, on December 13, 1936, Prince Karim was declared healthy despite being born prematurely. The Aga Khan's brother, Prince Amyn, was born less than a year later. Their parents divorced in 1949, in part due to Prince Aly Khan's extramarital affairs, and Prince Aly Khan shortly after married Rita Hayworth – with whom he had a daughter, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, the half-sister of Aga Khan IV. The Aga Khan IV also had a half-brother, Patrick Benjamin Guinness (1931–1965), from his mother's first marriage, as Joan Yarde-Buller was previously married to Loel Guinness of the banking Guinnesses.
Prince Karim spent his childhood in Nairobi, Kenya, where his early education was done by private tutoring. His grandfather, Aga Khan III, engaged Mustafa Kamil, a teacher from Aligarh Muslim University, for both Prince Karim and Prince Amyn. Prince Karim later attended the Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland, the most expensive boarding school in Europe, for nine years where he ended up with, in his words, "fair grades." As a youngster Prince Karim would have preferred to attend MIT and study science, but his grandfather, Aga Khan III, vetoed the decision and Prince Karim attended Harvard University. There, he switched to majoring in History after flunking an engineering course.
When his grandfather passed away, the young Prince was thrust into the position of the Aga Khan (IV), and he went from being not only a university student but also to replacing his grandfather as the new Nizari Ismaili Imam. He says about it: "Overnight, my whole life changed completely. I woke up with serious responsibilities toward millions of other human beings. I knew I would have to abandon my hopes of studying for a doctorate in History." The Aga Khan IV graduated from Harvard in 1959, two years after becoming the Imam of the Nizari Ismailis, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Islamic History (with Cum Laude honors) and his varsity H for soccer.
The young Aga Khan was a competitive downhill skier, and he skied for Iran (at that time led by the secular Shah) in the 1964 Olympic Games. Riots broke out in East Africa during the time of the games and the Aga Khan was accordingly besieged with cables and questions from East African Nizari Ismaili leaders, some of whom had flown to Innsbruck, asking their imam for guidance. Specifically, his followers wanted to know whether they should try to hold on to their interests in East Africa or instead return back to India and Pakistan.
Paul Ress, of Sports Illustrated, writes that the young, contact lens wearing Prince turned Aga Khan IV, having responsibility to go with his wealth, did not live the playboy lifestyle of his father. He did, however, relish "...speed on water as well as on snow, highways and in the air..." and increased the speed of his 72-foot yacht (the Amaloun) by almost 20%. Noting he could no longer afford to risk his life on a piste (ski run), the Aga Khan also habitually drove at 90 to 145 miles an hour, "road permitting." Ress writes about traveling to Chantilly in one of the young Prince's Maseratis. The chauffeur, Lucien Lemouss, slowed to 80 miles per hour as they fell in behind a slower moving Ferrari, and the young Prince had the chauffeur pull over, took over the driver's seat, and swiftly passed the Ferrari.
The young Aga Khan, who at times was followed by "telephoto maniacs" (i.e. paparazzi), discusses his privacy:
I take all sorts of precautions when I go out with friends. I have taught myself not to show any emotion in public places. I never sit next to a woman with whom the press is trying to link me. Here in Gstaad I go often to a bistro outside the village for a fondue because the proprietor will not let anyone take pictures in his establishment. I stopped going to certain Paris theaters because I discovered they were tipping off the press to my presence. I realize that I may seem extreme on the subject, but do not forget that my mail has been stolen and my servants bribed. Close personal friends have taken private snapshots of me in my home and then sold them to magazines. I have been blackmailed on the telephone. All I desire is to have my private life respected. Is that unreasonable?
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