A Princess Remembers

335, [1] pages. Illustrations. Index. This is one of the Century Lives and Letters series. Originally published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson in 1976. Some wear and soiling to the cover. Some scuffing inside boards. Front board weak. 1994 TLS from Gayatri Devi to Virginia Ellen Pierce (with envelope) and TLS response laid in. Ms. Pierce was the Administrator of CARE Maharashtra. Maharani Gayatri Devi (23 May 1919 29 July 2009), was the third Maharani consort of Jaipur from 1940 to 1949, through her marriage to Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II. Following her husband's signature for the Jaipur State to become part of the Union of India and her step-son's accession to the throne in 1970, she was known as Maharani Gayatri Devi, Rajmata of Jaipur. Ethnically born in a Koch Rajbongshi Hindu family, her father was Maharaja Jitendra Narayan of Cooch Behar in West Bengal, and her mother was Maratha Princess Indira Raje of Baroda, the daughter of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwar III. Following India's independence and the abolition of the princely states, she became a successful politician. Gayatri Devi was also celebrated for her classical beauty and became something of a fashion icon in her adulthood. She is the daughter of the Maharaja of Cooch Behar and the widow of the Maharaja of Jaipur. She was raised in a sumptuous palace and shot her first panther at the age of twelve. She became one of the first women to win a seat in the Indian Parliament, John F. Kennedy once introduced her as "the woman with the most staggering majority that anyone has ever earned in an election." She was also considered one of the world's most beautiful women. In this compelling memoir, Gayatri Devi describes her carefree, hoyden childhood with her brothers and sisters in the palace of Cooch Behar and their adventurous trips to London and the continent, her secret six-year courtship with the dashing, internationally renowned polo player, Jai, the Maharaja of Jaipur, her marriage and entry into the glittering life of the 'pink city' of Jaipur and her struggles to adapt to unfamiliar customs and her husband's two other wives. A Princess Remembers is the fascinating life story of one of India's most elegant women and one of its most powerful. Santha Rama Rau (24 January 1923 - 21 April 2009) was an Indian-born American writer. When India won its independence in 1947, Rama Rau's father was appointed as his nation's first ambassador to Japan. While in Tokyo, Japan, she met her future husband, an American, Faubion Bowers. After extensive traveling through Asia and a bit of Africa and Europe, the couple settled in New York City, New York. Rama Rau became an instructor in the English faculty of Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, New York, in 1971, also working as a freelance writer. Rama Rau is the author of Home to India, East of Home, This is India, Remember the House (a novel), My Russian Journey, Gifts of Passage, The Adventuress, (a novel), View to the Southeast, and An Inheritance, as well as co-author (with Gayatri Devi) of A Princess Remembers: the memoirs of the Maharani of Jaipur. She adapted the novel A Passage to India, with author E. M. Forster's approval, for the theater. The play of the same name was produced for the Oxford Playhouse, Oxford, United Kingdom, moved to the West End in London, United Kingdom, in 1960 for 261 performances, and then on to Broadway in New York City where it was staged 109 times. It was adapted by John Maynard and directed by Waris Hussein for BBC television's Play of the Month in 1965. Although the film rights originally required Rama Rau to write the screenplay, director David Lean found her draft unsatisfactory and was able to reject it, although she is still credited in the titles because he still used some of her dialogue.Virginia Ellen Pierce is an international development professional with more than 30 years of experience managing multi-sectoral programs, with a special focus on health and women. She provides management and tec.…