A Princess Remembers: Memoirs of the Maharani of Jaipur

Good book for historic glimpse. You will get to know about royal life of that time.

Good print and a very insightful read.

Although the book is a wonderful engrossing read, one can't help notice that the sole purpose of maharani's life as well as most of the other women in the book, was to look good, dress up, wear jewellery and that's about it. The sense of entitlement with which these royal ladies went about their lives, spending summers in London, autumns in darjeeling and winters in ooty, is surprising. Many of the incidents described in the book, which the author considers her accomplishments, come across as childish histrionics especially her first hunting experience, her tryst with the parliament and 'eating caviar in tihar jail', is unintentionally silly. And perhaps that's why, towards the end of the book, when the author unleashes her wrath on indira Gandhi in full fury, one can't help but think of indira as the stronger and tougher woman with far more gumption. Equally beautiful and born in an equally illustrious family, Mrs Gandhi worked very hard and made many sacrifices to reach the top position and be a role model to generations of Indian girls, while the author herself stayed content being the daughter and then the wife of royal people and did little to break barriers. Anyway, it's still a fabulous read and I highly recommend it. And may I add, very prompt delivery by amazon as usual:-))

Good

A wonderful book...I was totally unaware of many truths that have been highlighted in the book. It has been written beautifully in an easy and simple language with so much of details explained wonderfully. Excellent book. A must read.

Got to know the life of these Maharanis real royal life. The Princess graceful acceptance of polygamy.The accession of the princely states. How the system was abolished. How the Palaces became hotels. Inspite of so many tragedies how they still led a dignified life. Her political entry.

The book gives a very well vibe of royalty..you sit with a mindset of the royal and historical vibe from the princess's experience and the book adds up a lot to it..i recommend you to buy it if are interested in reading about history and kings

Autobiography is something which you pick only when you really like that person and are curious enough to know all about him/her. So that was my case to pick this book. I have always been charmed by the elegance and personality of Gayatri Devi just like have been with Princess Diana. I was startled as I had only a faint idea about what royalty was all about. It's about her journey from being a princess of Cooch Behar to Maharani of Jaipur in pre-independence India till date. If you are not interested enough, ignore it or read it holding your breath. Part 1 begins with Ayesha's (Maharani Gayatri Devi's pet name) childhood and the delights and duties of royalty. It's how she was raised by her elegant mother with her four siblings, her extensive travels including her life in London, her infatuation and later affair with Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II fondly known as Jai. She had to try hard convincing her family as she wanted to be his third wife. Part 2 is about her lavish wedding, life in the palace of Jaipur with extensive pardah system which was alien to her, wartime (WW-II) where her husband served too being a Rajput and then about independence of India. Part 3 is about how things changed with independence, how their life changed slowly with giving up many of their lavishness n lifestyle and her unexpected career in politics. She won her first election by the largest margin anyone had ever achieved in the world. Part 4 is the downfall, loosing her brother, her childhood ideal and her husband, her greatest support within a span of few months, the vengeance of Congress by arresting her during emergency and living in Tihar for almost a year. She almost lost everything but her family and the love of people of Jaipur, her constituency, her home. She died in 2009 from a lung aiment.