MAHARANI GAYATRI DEVI: FASHION ICON & EQUINE LOVER

In the twentieth century, very few Indian women could have claimed to have held strong sway over the public, in India and abroad. Maharani Gayatri Devi happened to be one of them. She was uniquely positioned to wield influence in the socio-political circles of her times. But her popularity extended beyond the realm of stately affairs, most notably to the world of fashion. She was featured in Vogue magazine’s Ten Most Beautiful Women list.

Born in London (23 May 1919) to Prince Jitendra

Narayan of Cooch

Behar (presently located in West Bengal) and Princess Indira Raje, Gayatri Devi was destined to have a quintessential Indian royal upbringing. Her father was the younger brother to the Crown Prince of Cooch Behar, while her mother was a Maratha Princess, the only daughter of the Maratha King, Maharaja

Sayajirao Gaekwad III. As a child born to the second in line to the throne, her life would have largely been uneventful if not for her uncle, Rajendra Narayan’s untimely death in 1913. Once her father ascended the throne, her family came under the spotlight, with them being frequently written about.

A young Gayatri Devi was ardent about pursuing education, which led to her enrolling in schools in India and Europe. The then- princess studied at Glendower Preparatory School in London, Patha Bhavana, Visva-Bharati University, Shantiniketan, and later at Lausanne, Switzerland, wrapping up her academic career by fine-tuning her secretarial skills at the London School of Secretaries. Apart from academics, Princess Gayatri Devi nurtured several recreational activities. Most noteworthy was her flair for equestrian sporting. An accomplished equestrienne herself, along with her future husband, she was a lifelong patron of the sport.

Princess Gayatri Devi first set her eyes on her future husband, Sawai Man Singh II, when the latter had come to Calcutta and stayed with her family. The soon-to-be King swept Gayatri Devi off her feet, leading to a whirlwind romance replete with clandestine meetings in private corners of the vast grounds of the palace in Cooch Behar, culminating with a marriage proposal while driving in Man Singh II’s Bentley. Despite resistance to the relationship from several quarters including the princess’ mother, the pair married on 9 May 1940. At the time of their marriage, Man Singh II had already been married twice. His first two marriages were to brides chosen from the royal family of Jodhpur. And as was customary in Rajput royal households at the time, all his three wives lived in the same household together. The marriage produced one child, a son, Prince Jagat Singh, who later in his life was granted his paternal uncle’s fief of Isarda, Raja of Isarda, as a subsidiary title. Prince Jagat Singh had two children: Rajkumari Lalitya Kumari and Maharaj Devraj Singh, Raja of Isarda. Today, they are her only surviving descendants, and as such, have claimed to be heirs of their paternal grandmother.

Maharaj Man Singh II continued to rule the princely state of Jaipur in the British Raj from 1922 to 1947. In 1948, after the state was absorbed into independent India, he was granted certain privileges, along with the continued use of the title Maharaja of Jaipur by the newly formed Government of India. During this time, given the substantial reduction of her former responsibilities, Gayatri Devi decided to forge a career in the Indian political scene. In 1962, she ran for Parliament and won the constituency in the Lok Sabha, in a campaign that saw the world’s largest landslide victory, winning a stellar 192,909 votes out of 246,516 cast. She continued to hold this seat until 1971 as a member of the now defunct, classical-liberal Swatantra Party founded by C. Rajagopalachari.

Her personal political leaning often pitted her against the then-all-powerful Indian National Congress. She was also an outspoken critic of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who ordered her arrest during the Emergency on baseless allegations of having violated tax laws. A political prisoner, she served a five-month sentence in Tihar Jail, Delhi. In the late seventies, Maharani Gayatri Devi retired from politics and published her biography, A Princess Remembers in 1976. She thereafter slowly retreated from public life, living away from the media glare in her countryside estate, and spending much of her time with her grandchildren. She died at the age of 90 on 29 July 2009, succumbing to lung failure.