Born Prince Karim Aga Khan, the Aga Khan IV is the eldest son of Prince Aly Khan (1911โ1960), and his first wife, the Hon. Princess Tajuddawlah Aly Khan, formerly the Hon. Joan Barbara Yarde-Buller (1908โ1997), the eldest daughter of British peer 3rd Baron Churston.[29]
Born in Geneva, Switzerland, on 13 December 1936, Prince Karim was declared healthy despite being born prematurely.[30] The Aga Khan's brother, Prince Amyn, was born less than a year later. Their parents divorced in 1949, in part due to Prince Aly Khan's extramarital affairs,[31] and Prince Aly Khan shortly after married American actress Rita Hayworth โ with whom he had a daughter, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, the half-sister of Aga Khan IV.
The Aga Khan IV also had a half-brother, Patrick Benjamin Guinness (1931โ1965), from his mother's first marriage, as Joan Yarde-Buller was previously married to Loel Guinness of the banking Guinnesses.[32]
Prince Karim spent his childhood in Nairobi, Kenya,[33] where his early education was done by private tutoring. His grandfather, Aga Khan III, engaged