For generations, the house of jaipur has been synonymous with exquisite maharanis, polo-playing maharajas and playboy princes, fabulous jewels and opulent palaces. But behind the glittering facades lie stories of forbidden love, forged wills and missing treasures of lives cut short by alcoholism and of bitter family feuds over assets worth thousands of crores. Revealed for the first time are the untold stories of life behind the palace doors. But this chronicle of the house of jaipur, spanning the final decades of the british raj to the present day, also paints a larger picture of how centuries-old feudal traditions collided with rapid social and political change when the princely states, which covered two-fifths of indias pre-independence land mass, were abolished. The jaipur story serves as a prism for viewing how the evolution of democracy since independence has forced the princes to negotiate these upheavals, recounting the various ways in which the jaipur family have sought to redefine their roles and stay relevant in twenty-first-century india, in stark contrast to their close relatives in cooch behar, whose lives sank into irrelevance and oblivion. Deeply researched and compellingly narrated, the house of jaipur is a gripping saga studded with unforgettable characters, their charmed lives often crossed by misfortune and tragedy. Read more