There was some controversy at the beginning of their relationship because he was a married man, but the press was largely positive once they were engaged. Most of the news reports around the time of the wedding are concerned with the wedding itself... the guest list, the wedding dress, the venue, etc. The press liked the "Cinderella" angle of the story. The communist mayor who served as officiate was also of interest.

Robert Musel of the United Press did write a report shortly before the wedding describing some angry letters (around 400) received by Hayworth. According to Musel, "the letters suggested that Miss Hayworth was an American girl who was the pin-up favorite of most of America's fighting men during the war and therefore she should have fallen in love with an American instead of an Indian Moslem prince."

During their divorce, one British newspaper called for a boycott of Hayworth, stating that "if a white film star is prepared to go off on an escapade with a colored Indian prince who was already married, she could hardly expect the marriage to be founded on anything but sand."