Late 'Queen Mother' Gayatri Devi of India
India’s Most Popular Princess & one of VOGUE's Beautiful Woman
Aug 30, 2009
Jaipur’s most beloved queen, Gayatri Devi, passed away due to lung failure on 29th July 2009, in India, barely two months after her 90th birthday. And in the passing away of the Mother Queen, a glorious chapter in the royal pages of Rajasthan has come to an end.
Ayesha’s Beginning
Princess Gayatri Devi, more commonly known as Ayesha to her family and friends, was born into the royal family of Cooch Behar in what is now the eastern India on 23rd May 1919 in London to Maharani Indira Devi and Maharaja Jitendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur.
Her father died on 20th December 1922 when Gayatri Devi was still young, and her childhood years were influenced by her mother - the Maharani of Cooch Behar, and her maternal grandmother - the Maharani of Baroda, who raised her as an anglicized Indian princess in the huge palace in Cooch Behar which was staffed with about 500 servants.
Gayatri lived a tomboy childhood with her two brothers and two sisters. Her happiest days were as a child when she read comics like Tiger Tim and Puck, and shot her first panther when she was 12. Her early education was at Patha Bhavana of Visva-Bharati University, Shantiniketan, and later in Lausanne in Switzerland, where she travelled with her mother and siblings. She also took formal education in secretarial skills from the London School of Secretaries.
When young, Gayatri Devi lived with her parents in the Swish part of London, close to Harrods, the world’s most famous department store. Though she was just a four years old, the young princess felt honored at the courtly respect she received from the shop attendant.
Gayatri Devi Weds
When she was 12, Gayatri Devi fell in love with the most glamorous, rich, and handsome Maharaja of Jaipur. When she went to the Monkey Club finishing school in Knightsbridge, they met secretly and became unofficially engaged. She had the world at her feet, but she chose to marry her ‘Jai’ who already had two wives. On 9th May 1940, they married in Europe and she was first brought to the Rambagh Palace in Jaipur which he had specially decorated by his favorite interior designer - Hammonds of London.
Purdah to Politics
Gayatri Devi’s strong character made her go beyond the purdah. She became a great sports enthusiast and shared a great love for horses with her husband. She got her first plane when she was 21. She entertained friends such as First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and her dinners at home used to be the talk of Jaipur.
Internationally known for her beauty, she became something of a fashion icon in her adulthood. Photographs of her draped in elegant chiffon saris, and decked with diamonds and pearls, splashed all across fashion and lifestyle magazines. She was in the list of Vogue Magazine’s 10 most beautiful women of the century in the world in 1960 and was described as ‘a dream in sari and jewels’.
After India’s Independence, Gayatri Devi won a seat in the Parliament of India, and President John F. Kennedy introduced her as "the woman with most staggering majority that anyone has ever earned in an election." Being an educationist, a philanthropist, and a politician, she supported girls’ education and established schools like Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls’ Public School and Sawai Man Singh Vidyalaya.
Gayatri Devi was known for her opposition to the Congress Party of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. In May 1970, the government introduced a bill to abolish the princely order. The Maharaja and Maharani flew to England where he died a month later. His eldest son by his first wife was proclaimed Maharaja, and Gayatri Devi became the Rajmata. Gayatri Devi was accused of violating tax laws and arrested in the Tihar Jail for six months after which she retired from politics.
Rajmata's Family
Gayatri Devi’s only son, Prince Jagat Singh married Princess Priyanandana Rangsit, the daughter of Prince Piya and Princess Vibhavati of Thailand. They had two children - a daughter and a son. Their marriage did not last and the two separated. On February 5, 1997, Jagat Singh of Isarda passed away in London.
Lilypool & Other Assets
Ater her husband's death, Rajmata spent the last three decades of her life at the picturesque Lilypool which was the second home that her husband built for her on the premises of Jaipur’s Rambagh Palace. Her estate comprised of the Lilypool, the Moti Doongri fort, stakes in Rambagh Palace Hotel, a house in London, Jaipur House in New Delhi, Jaipur Palace in Mount Abu, Taj Hotel in Sawai Madhopur, Laxmi Vilas hotel in Jaipur, Ashok Club, Isarda House and Sukham Gardens along with Rambagh staff quarters and SMS School. She spent her summers in a small flat in Knightsbridge, and her winters in Lilypool.
Gayatri’s Memoirs
‘A Princess Remembers’ by Santha Rama Rau in 1976 was reprinted over and over again, mainly because of the woman who graced its cover. One of the world’s most written-about women, Gayatri Devi was a people’s Princess. One of the last remaining symbols of India’s feudal past, Gayatri Devi left an enriched legacy behind her. Her symbolic participation at the vintage car rally where she drove her Bentley, will always be fondly remembered by her people.
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