It was 20 years ago. On November 19, 2003, Michel Drucker received Farah Diba Pahlavi, the former Empress of Iran, for the publication of his Memoirs. And on the set, with the host of France 2, and the chef Jean-Pierre Coffe, in particular, the designer Philippe Geluck was also part of the team.
“When the Shah is gone, mice don’t dance”
With the very heavy news of the moment, between the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel, as well as the terrorist attack in Arras, France which targeted a French teacher, Philippe Geluck explained how he approached the theme of Islamist fundamentalism with the last wife of the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, overthrown in 1979 by the Islamic Revolution.
At the microphone of Sud radio, he explained this morning: “On Vivement Dimanche, we received the Chahbanou, Farah Diba, at Michel Drucker, who was publishing his memoirs and traditionally I offered a drawing at the end of the show to the guest, which I did on his life, on his current affairs. And the drawing I made for him represented the Cat (his key character, editor’s note) who was carrying suitcases, the Cat said: ‘in certain countries, when the cat (chah, editor’s note) has left, the mice don’t dance, because music is forbidden’ And there was an ‘ohhhh’ on the set”.
“Yes, the empresses give me a kiss”
A play on words on Chah-Chat which had nevertheless upset the French-speaking people. Indeed, regarding Farah Diba, Philippe Geluck admitted: “She was very touched by the drawing, I met her a few years later, during a Magritte exhibition in Beaubourg. She came up to me, she kissed me – yes, empresses kiss me , she’s the only one I know – and she said to me ‘your drawing sits in my living room, I look at it every day and I show it to everyone who visits me’ It’s just….”
Philippe Geluck: “During an exhibition, the Chahbanou, Farah Diba came up to me, she gave me a kiss and she said to me ‘your drawing sits in my living room, I look at it every day and I show everyone who visits me'” https://t.co/wbNJXl4FU6 pic.twitter.com/an5IzTv410 — Sud Radio (@SudRadio) October 16, 2023
F.A.