American Model Kendra Spears Marries Prince Rahim Aga Khan

          Once hailed as the “next Cindy Crawford” for the mole on her upper lip, American super model Kendra Spears finally exchanged vows with Prince Rahim last Saturday, in a private ceremony on the grounds of the Chateau de Bellerive, overlooking the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland, attended by just friends and families. The traditional Muslim ceremony follows in the royal family’s custom. Now, Spears has a new official title as the Princess Salwa.

Prince Rahim Aga Khan and Miss Kendra Salwa Spears at their wedding ceremony

          Spears who shot to fame in January 2008 after via Myspace, after becoming a finalist in the “Supermodel of the World competition” by Ford Models, wore a stunning ivory Sari with gold embroidery. She wore her hair in an elegant chignon showing off her thick Diamond earrings and matching tiered necklace and wore nude strappy sandals for the warm summer wedding.

 

          Prince Rahim, the eldest son of billionaire racecourse owner, His Highness Aga Khan IV, is worth an estimated $800 million. The Aga Khan, a British national, is the 49^th hereditary Imam of the Ismaili Shi’as, and is regarded by his followers as a direct bloodline descendent of the prophet Mohamed.

 

 

Prince Rahim Aga Khan and Miss Kendra Salwa Spears at their wedding ceremony in Geneva

          The couple’s engagement was made public back in April by Aga Khan in a press release on his website but didn’t confirm the date of the wedding at that time. Four months and now they are husband and wife. They had met apparently after they were introduced by Super Model Naomi Campbell.

April 6, 2013 Engagement Picture

          Kendra Spears, 25, made her first debut at the New York Fashion Week in September 2008 after landing her a contract with Ford Models after the competition ended where she was a finalist. And in 2009, she appeared on the covers of French ELLE, Chinese Vogue, and Dazed and Confused. The University of Washington sociology graduate made headlines in 2009, when she was sued for changing model agencies and ended paying the Ford Models over £96,000 in royalties after switching to NEXT. Spears has just been announced as the face of Escada’s Fall/Winter 2013 campaign.

Kendra at the New York Fashion Week, 2008

For Paul & Joe, 2011

          Her husband, Prince Rahim Aga Khan, 41, who studied in the U. S. at Brown University and the Navarra Business School in Barcelona, Spain, is involved in the poverty reduction efforts of the Aga Khan Development Network.

Happy couple Prince Rahim Aga Khan and his new wife Kendra pictured after their wedding ceremony

          The Seattle-born beauty is not the only model to marry into the royal family. Miss Spears has married into a family with a long-established history of beautiful brides. Her father-in-law married British model Sarah "Sally" Croker-Poole, and his grandfather was married to iconic actress Rita Hayworth.