HE was the billionaire philanthropist that King Charles counted as a close friend – and who made the late Queen’s horse-racing dreams come true.
The Aga Khan, spiritual leader to 15 million Ismaili Muslims around the world, who has died aged 88, led a colourful life that saw him charm the Royal Family, marry a British model and become one of the world’s most extravagant playboys.
The Aga Khan, who died on Tuesday at age 88, with the late Queen[/caption]
Prince Karim became the Aga Khan in 1957 after the death of his grandfather, Aga Khan III[/caption]
He was the owner of kidnapped Derby winner Shergar who refused to pay the £2million ransom demanded by its IRA abductors in 1983.
It was Prince Karim Aga Khan who helped to fulfil the Queen’s wish of winning the Gold Cup at Ascot in 2013 with her filly, Estimate, which he gave her as an 80th birthday present.
The Queen was famously pictured beaming as her horse romped home over the finishing line — the first win for a reigning monarch in the race’s 207-year history.
‘A personal friend of many years’
The victory was the zenith of a friendship forged through a shared love of all things horse-racing.
King Charles was yesterday said to be “deeply saddened” by the Aga Khan’s death after he became “a personal friend of many years”.
The King is believed to be in touch privately with the family.
The Prince often appeared at state dinners and engagements alongside royals such as Princess Margaret and the Prince and Princess of Wales.
He leaves behind a charitable legacy which promotes education, health and development in some of the world’s poorest countries.
A gallivanting jet-setter who wants his horses, cars and women to be fast
Sports Illustrated magazine description of the Aga Khan in 1964
But while the Aga Khan will forever be remembered for his philanthropy, he was also known for his jaw-dropping £10.5billion wealth, and two marriages which cost him millions in divorce settlements.
In 1964 Sports Illustrated magazine described him as “a gallivanting jet-setter who wants his horses, cars and women to be fast”.
His first wife was Sarah Croker Poole, a British model and former debutante who took the name Salima Aga Khan after they married.
The daughter of a Lieutenant Colonel in New Delhi, in 1958 she was officially introduced to the Queen, the highlight of a “gentry” girl’s progression into society.
The couple had three children, Princess Zahra, Prince Rahim and Prince Hussain, but the marriage ended in 1995 after 25 years.
Salimah, who had previously been married to a British lord, reportedly received a £50million payout.
His 2011 divorce from second wife Princess Gabriele zu Leiningen — 27 years his junior — was similarly pricey, but almost cost him far more.
The Princess, a former pop singer and the daughter of German entrepreneurs, owed her title to her first marriage to Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen.
She converted to Islam for her 1998 wedding to the Aga Khan and adopted a new name, Inaara, before the couple had a son.
They split six years later and it was claimed she hired private detectives to prove her husband’s alleged affair with an air hostess.
She moved to Britain, and in a highly publicised ten-year divorce battle in the UK courts — said at the time to be the costliest ever — experts predicted the Aga Khan could face a £500million bill.
But the case finally collapsed and the divorce battle moved to France, where the Prince spent much of his later life, and Inaara won a £54million settlement.
Described by US magazine Forbes as one of the world’s richest royals, the Prince owned hundreds of racehorses, a yacht club in Sardinia and a private island in the Bahamas.
Khan with first wife Sarah Croker Poole, a British model and former debutante who took the name Salima Aga Khan after they married[/caption]
The Prince’s second wife Princess Gabriele zu Leiningen who adopted the name Inaara[/caption]
In 2008 he commissioned a £200million high-speed yacht called Alamshar — named after one of his most prized horses — with three bedrooms and a stateroom.
His main home was a palace north of Paris, which boasted a training centre for his thoroughbreds, and he flew all over the world in a Bombardier Global 7500 private jet.
Followers of the Aga Khan believe him to be a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammed through his daughter, Hazrat Bibi Fatima.
Born in 1936 in Geneva to Prince Aly Khan and his first wife Joan Yarde-Buller, the daughter of a British peer, the Prince was educated at a private boarding school.
His parents later divorced and his father then married Hollywood starlet Rita Hayworth, giving his son a half-sister, Yasmin.
The Aga Khan was just 20 when he was bestowed his title, after his grandfather Aga Khan III broke with tradition to allow the honour to skip a generation, bypassing Karim’s father, Aly.
The young Prince was studying Islamic history at Harvard — where his classmates then began calling him “K” and “Jesus”.
His grandfather later said he made the decision “in view of altered conditions in the world” which was developing fast, with the rapid progress of atomic sciences.
The Prince had no actual state, instead being the leader of a scattering of Shia Ismailis around the world, including half a million in Pakistan as well as populations in India, Afghanistan and parts of Africa.
He did, however, have British citizenship and was treated as a head of state and given the title His Highness by Queen Elizabeth in July 1957.
In 1958, he was modest about his fortunes when he told Life Magazine: “What I really inherited were all the mosques and burial grounds.”
Asked about his grandfather’s four wives and his dad’s two marriages, he remained tight-lipped on romance, saying: “I thank God for women.”
‘Heartbroken’
In the UK, the prince is best known for his association with the royals and horse racing.
He was the owner of the mighty colt Shergar, who won the Epsom Derby by a record-breaking lead of ten lengths in 1981.
In a case that rocked horse-racing circles, Shergar was kidnapped along with groom John Fitzgerald in February 1983.
He was stolen from his stud in Ballymanny, County Kildare, by a group of masked men – generally accepted as IRA members – who demanded their massive ransom.
Through his tireless efforts in poverty alleviation, healthcare and gender equality, he championed the cause of the marginalised, leaving an indelible mark on countless lives
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif
The Aga Khan point blank refused to hand over the £2m, saying it would open the doors for other race horses to be kidnapped.
While Fitzgerald was released shortly after the snatch, Shergar was never seen again.
It no doubt broke the heart of a man who held his favourite horses close to his heart, just like the late Queen Elizabeth.
His Aga Khan Foundation pours around £800million every year into projects around the globe and the organisation has worked closely with the British Government in Central Asia, Tanzania and Afghanistan.
Following his death, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called the prince a “man of vision, faith and generosity” calling him a “remarkable leader.”
The Prince skied for Iran at the 1964 Winter Olympics[/caption]
He said: “Through his tireless efforts in poverty alleviation, healthcare and gender equality, he championed the cause of the marginalised, leaving an indelible mark on countless lives.”
Activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai said his legacy would continue through his “incredible” work.
United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres described him as a “symbol of peace, tolerance and compassion in our troubled world”.
As leaders bade farewell to one of the most admired billionaires on the planet, in Britain he may be forever immortalised as the man who put a giant smile on the face of Her Majesty
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Rita Hayworth who was married to the prince’s father[/caption]
