Abdulmejid, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1839–1861) dies on June 25, 1861, and is succeeded by his brother Abdülaziz, whose parents are the late Mahmud II and Pertevniyal Sultan (1812–1883), originally named Besime, a Circassian.

In 1868 Pertevniyal was residing at Dolmabahçe Palace.

That year Abdülaziz led the visiting Eugénie de Montijo, Empress of France, to see his mother.

Pertevniyal perceived the presence of a foreign woman within her quarters of the seraglio as an insult.

She reportedly slapped Eugénie across the face, almost resulting in an international incident.

According to another account, Pertevniyal became outraged by the forwardness of Eugénie taking the arm of one of her sons while he gave a tour of the palace garden, and she gave the Empress a slap on the stomach as a possibly more subtly intended than often represented reminder that they were not in France.

The Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque will be built under the patronage of his mother.

The construction work will begin in November 1869 and the mosque will be finished in 1871.

His paternal grandparents are Sultan Abdul Hamid I and Sultana Nakşidil Sultan.

Several accounts identify his paternal grandmother with Aimée du Buc de Rivéry, a cousin of Empress Joséphine.

Pertevniyal is a sister of Khushiyar Qadin, third wife of Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt.

Khushiyar and Ibrahim were the parents of Isma'il.