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This is the story of a post-war film star who preferred the love of a tormented artist to the advances of the Shah of Iran. In the late 1950s, the sovereign had just divorced the sad-eyed Princess Soraya when he came across a picture of Michèle Mercier on the cover of a magazine. Young and ravishing, the actress was one of the rising stars of French cinema. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was captivated and resolved to meet her.
During a visit by the monarch to Rome, she was invited to a party in his honor. A second meeting was arranged. “We danced a waltz, then young men arrived to place in front of me cases of all sizes containing incredible jewels,” she would confide, years later to George V Magazine.
Cascading jewels, reminiscent of a marriage proposal, were something Michèle Mercier couldn’t accept. The young woman was in love with Giani Esposito, a singer nine years her senior. Of these sumptuous gifts, the actress kept a pair of yellow gold and diamond earrings by Vacheron Constantin. Estimated at between 1,200 and 1,800 euros, they are now being auctioned by the Hôtel des Ventes de Monte-Carlo, alongside 46 other pieces of jewelry, film costumes, and other memorabilia.
Michèle Mercier is “not the type to dwell on memories,” her friend, journalist Henry-Jean Servat, told France 3 Côte d’Azur, explaining the sale. Among the items up for auction is a 17th-century style dress made for the actress’s most successful film,
Angélique, Marquise des Anges . A stage set, created for the final installment of this legendary French film saga, Angélique et le Sultan, is also being offered. It consists of two tiaras, bracelets, and earrings, and is estimated to fetch between 500 and 1000 euros.
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