Shah's daughter suffered long illness
An inquest into the death of the youngest daughter of the late Shah of Iran was opened today, three days after she was found dead in a hotel.
Princess Leila Pahlavi, 31, who had been living in the US, was discovered by staff at the Leonard Hotel in west London on Sunday evening.
A post-mortem examination failed to reveal the cause of death but her brother Reza Pahlavi said she had been suffering from a lengthy illness and police said there were no suspicious circumstances and the death was being cast as ‘‘unexplained’’.
The inquest was formally opened and adjourned at Westminster Coroner’s Court in central London.
"No date was set for the full inquest to be heard", a spokeswoman said. She refused to confirm any further details about the death.
Leila was the youngest of the Shah’s five children, and the fourth by his third wife, Queen Farah.
At nine years old she was forced to flee the Iranian capital Tehran with her family when her father was overthrown in the Islamic revolution.
She later moved to Massachusetts in the US where she attended a state school before going on to study at the elite Brown University.
Since graduating in 1992 she had divided most of her time between the US and Europe and was unmarried.
A statement released on the Internet on behalf of her brother Reza, the elder son of the Shah, said: ‘‘It brings me enormous pain and deep sorrow to announce the tragic passing away of my beloved sister Princess Leila Pahlavi after a lengthy illness.’’
