EXCLUSIVE: Aga Khan's son gets divorced from his American wife - as she buys $2.2million Manhattan apartment to start her new single life

EXCLUSIVE: Aga Khan's son gets divorced from his American wife - as she buys $2.2million Manhattan apartment to start her new single life
The stunning wife of the billionaire Aga Khan’s son Prince Hussain has confirmed their divorce after snapping up a $2.2 million Manhattan apartment to start a new life, MailOnline can reveal.

Princess Khaliya Khan, 36, bought the property in her maiden name, Kristin White, just weeks before her ex-husband’s elder brother Prince Rahim Aga Khan celebrated his wedding to American supermodel Kendra Spears.

Princess Khaliya, a New York-born blonde, married Prince Hussain, 39, in the fairtytale setting of the Chateau of Chantilly in September 2006. She adopted the name Khaliya upon converting to Islam for her marriage.

The couple met when they were both were studying at New York’s Columbia University, from where they graduated with masters degrees.

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Split: Prince Hussain, the younger son of the Aga Khan, on his wedding day to Kristin White in September 2006 in Chantilly, northern Paris. The couple are now divorced

Home, posh, home: Princess Khaliya has bought a Manhattan apartment for $2.2 million in her maiden name

Held at the 14th-century French chateau which was used as a backdrop for the James Bond film A View To A Kill, the lavish ceremony made a five-page spread in Hello! Magazine with the photographs supplied by the groom’s father, racehorse owner the Aga Khan, who is now said to be worth in excess of $9billion.

A private ceremony was followed by a ball for family and friends at the Aga Khan’s lavish estate, Aiglemont, in Gouviex, France. This was followed by a civil marriage ceremony.

In 2011, the Daily Mail’s Richard Kay reported there was trouble in the marriage and that the couple were parting ways – but neither Prince Hussain nor Princess Khailya ever publicly confirmed the report and it is as yet unknown where the couple actually filed for divorce.

However, at a conference earlier this year in Las Vegas to announce the launch of her new foundation, Princess Khaliya was asked about her royal links. Pausing for a moment, she said: ‘I married somebody who is a Prince by honorary decree through the British system because of the aid that they gave to the Indian state during the Battle of Independence…it’s kind of complicated, it’s more of a title that’s connected to a people than to a land.

‘Technically it’s my husband’s domain - my ex-husband’s domain.’  And when asked if she was royal, she replied: ‘I am and I’m not!’

Smiles: Prince Hussain Aga Khan and Kristin White were married in a traditional Muslim ceremony followed by a civil service in France in September 2006

Single life: Princess Khaliya (left) enjoys Coachella Music Festival in April with fashion editor Indira Cesarine (right) in Palm Springs, California, in a photo taken by British socialite Lady Victoria Hervey

Stunning: Princess Khaliya Aga Khan at the Gabrielle's Angel Foundation Angel Ball in New York in October 2012

Newlyweds: Prince Rahim Aga Khan followed in the footsteps of his brother by marrying an American, model Kendra Spears. The couple tied the knot in Geneva, Switzerland, on August 31

It is understood that Princess Khaliya lived for a time after the split at 666 Greenwich Street, an apartment building also once home to Monica Lewinsky.

However, just weeks ago, she sealed the deal on a sprawling two-bedroom apartment in a modern Condo building on the Lower East Side, featuring gorgeous views overlooking the city, paying $2,240,150 in total.
And she has most definitely been seen living the single life after being pictured at trendy Palm Springs musical festival Coachella in April, joining friends British socialite Lady Victoria Hervey and fashion editor Indira Cesarine.
The Princess’s father Professor Norman White is an IT specialist, and his wife, Dr Margaret White, is a psychologist - and they live a rather more modest life than the Aga Khan in Montclair, New Jersey.

Speaking at Catalyst Week in Las Vegas, Princess Khaliya said: ‘My story is one of listening to your heart and following your intuition and taking paths that are not always the most obvious or the easiest ones - or the most intelligent ones. And I think there’s a lesson to be learned in that.'
She discussed her time in the Peace Corps and meeting her ex-husband, which led her to setting up her own foundation, adding: ‘Every time I followed my heart, my intuition and my consciousness led me down another path.’

Her foundation, she said, aims to ‘harness technology in Silicon Valley and use it in the developing world.’

Last photo: Princess Khaliya and Prince Hussain Aga Khan pose for one of the last-known pictures of the couple together at the Alzheimer's Association Rita Hayworth Gala at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, NYC, in October 2008

Single life: Princess Khaliya looks sombre as she poses for a stunning photo in the sun with her dogs

Blissful: Princess Khaliya posted a picture of herself at the Coachella festival in California

Going it alone: Princess Khaliya announces the launch of her new foundation in Las Vegas in April - where she also confirmed her divorce

The striking blonde only completed the deal on her new home just weeks before her ex-brother-in law Prince Rahim, 41, married 25-year-old Kendra Spears.
The eldest son of Aga Khan IV and one of the 10 richest royals in the world, who is now said to be worth an estimated $800 million, married Seattle-born model Kendra - now rechristened Princess Salwa Aga Khan - on August 31 in a Muslim ceremony at a palace in Geneva, Switzerland.

But the couple then celebrated again in lavish style again on Saturday night at Manhattan’s Museum of Natural History.

Guests including Naomi Campbell, who introduced the couple at a party, Leonardo DiCaprio, Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis, actors Edward Norton and Rashida Jones toasted the prince and his beautiful bride, Page Six reported.
The newlyweds and their guests partied until the early hours under the Central Park West museum’s famous 94-foot-long fiberglass replica of a blue whale. Billionaires Ron Burkle, Vivi Nevo and Prince Vincent of Liechtenstein were said to be in attendance, as well as a host of top models, including Karlie Kloss, who is close friends with the bride.

Animal lover: Princess Khaliya beams as she poses with a horse in the countryside

The morning after: Prince Rahim Aga Khan and his new wife, Kendra Spears, are seen the day after their lavish wedding in Geneva, Switzerland, on August 31

The 250 guests were treated to performances by British rockers Band of Skulls and American indie band the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who were seen performing at the bash in a picture posted on Twitter today.

Prince Rahim is the heir to the title and fortune of Aga Khan IV, who is the Imam of Shia Ismaili Muslims and is considered a descendant of Prophet Muhammad.

Kendra – or Princess Salwa - is a regular on the catwalks of Paris and Milan. She was touted as the “next Cindy Crawford” after launching her career in 2008 and became a face of Escada, Prada, Diane von Furstenberg and other top brands.

Prince Hussain’s divorce from Princess Khaliya is just one of a string of marital breakdowns that have blighted the family of the leader of the world’s 12 million Ismaili Muslims.

Happier times: Prince Hussain and Princes Khaliya at their September 2006 wedding

Meet the family: The Aga Khan and his family at the wedding of Prince Hussain and Princess Khaliya in September 2006 in France

The Aga Khan has been married twice — his first wife and Rahim and Hussain’s mother is the former English model Sally Croker-Poole.

He has been separated from his second wife, Gabriele Thyssen, otherwise known as Begum Inaara, since 2004, but they are still not divorced after a French court quashed a £54million divorce settlement ruling from 2011.

The couple, who have a 13-year-old son, Aly, are now expected to face a retrial in around a year's time in what has already been an eight-year legal battle fought in Switzerland, Britain and now France.

Meanwhile, the Aga’s daughter, Princess Zahra, 41, wed Dorset farmer’s son and former male model Mark Boyden, but that union ended in 2005 after seven years and two children.