You have probably seen the photos of “Princess Qajar” with this caption. This woman... looks kind of unusual in terms of the modern beauty standards even in Iran. But some people believe that things were different 100 years ago.

This is partially true, but we should ask a different question: did this woman even exist? Yes and no. The woman in something that looks like a tutu was Taj al-Dawlah, and she was the wife of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar.

Some people think that it wasn’t the Shah’s real wife, but a male actor, but most likely, this is nothing more than speculation, because Taj was a real person.