Editing Gayatri Devi (section)

==Early life==
[[File:GayetriDeviniña.jpg|upright|thumb|left|Gayatri Devi as a child]]
Born into a Hindu royal family, she had [[Bengalis|Bengali]]<ref name=":0" /> and royal [[Koch dynasty|Koch]] ancestry on her paternal side, while her maternal side was of royal [[Gaekwad dynasty|Maratha]] descent.<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Remembering the Rajmata of Jaipur: 10 facts about Maharani Gayatri Devi |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/maharani-gayatri-devi-rajmata-jaipur-978697-2017-05-23 |magazine=India Today |date=23 May 2017 |access-date=4 January 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Maharani Gayatri Devi {{!}} Rajput Queen {{!}} Queens of India {{!}} Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II |url=https://lapolo.in/blog/maharani-gayatri-devi/#:~:text=Born%20in%20London%20(23%20May,her%20flair%20for%20equestrian%20sporting. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240424231229/https://lapolo.in/blog/maharani-gayatri-devi |archive-date=24 April 2024 |access-date=4 January 2025 |website=lapolo.in}}</ref> Her father, Prince Jitendra Narayan of [[Cooch Behar]], presently in [[West Bengal]], was the younger brother of the [[Yuvaraja]] (Crown Prince). She was related to [[Keshub Chandra Sen]] (A prominent figure in the [[Bengal Renaissance]] and social reformer) through her paternal grandmother, [[Suniti Devi]], who was the daughter of Keshub Chandra Sen.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Devi of Jaipur |first=Gayatri |title=A Princess Remembers: The Memoirs of the Maharani of Jaipur |publisher=Rupa & Co |year=1995 |isbn=978-81-716-7307-0 |location=New Delhi |pages=33 |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sansar |first=Swapnil |date=23 May 2024 |title=Maharani Gayatri Devi |url=https://swapnilsansar.org/2024/05/gayatridevi24/#:~:text=Maharani%20Suniti%20Devi%20was%20the,at%20the%20age%20of%2090. |access-date=4 January 2025 |website=Swapnil Sansar}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Maharani's Family |url=https://maharaniofjaipur.tripod.com/id18.htm#:~:text=(above%20left)%20The%20ever%20gracious,princes)%20of%20Cooch-Behar. |access-date=4 January 2025 |website=maharaniofjaipur.tripod.com}}</ref> Her mother was Maratha Princess [[Indira of Baroda|Indira Raje]] of [[Baroda]], the only daughter of [[Maratha]] King, [[Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III]], an extremely beautiful princess and a legendary socialite. Early in her life, her uncle's death led to her father ascending the throne (gaddi). Gayatri studied at [[Glendower Preparatory School]] in London,<ref>{{citation | title=A princess remembers: the memoirs of the Maharani of Jaipur | first=Gayatri | last=Devi | publisher = Rupa & Co. | year=1996 | isbn=978-81-7167-307-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5CoWAQAAMAAJ&q=Glendower | page=87}}</ref> [[Patha Bhavana]] of [[Visva-Bharati University]], [[Shantiniketan]],<ref name=elec>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090802072657/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,938254,00.html Whistle-Stopping Maharani] ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', 10 November 1961.</ref> and later in [[Lausanne]], [[Switzerland]], where she travelled with her mother and siblings, then studied secretarial skills in London School of Secretaries; Brillantmont and Monkey Club London.

She first met [[Sawai Man Singh II]] when she was 12 and he had come to Calcutta to play polo and stayed with their family.<ref>{{cite magazine |title='I Had Shot My First Panther Before I Turned Thirteen': Gayatri Devi turned 13 in 1932 |url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?238724 |date=20 October 2008 |magazine=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]] }}</ref> She married Sawai Man Singh II Bahadur on 9 May 1940.<ref name=k/>

Gayatri was a particularly avid [[Equestrianism|equestrienne]]. She was an excellent rider and an able Polo player. She was a good shot and enjoyed many days out on 'Shikars'. Gayatri was fond of cars and is credited with importing the first [[Mercedes-Benz W126]], a 500 SEL to India which was later shipped to Malaysia. She also owned several Rolls-Royces and an aircraft. Gayatri had one child, Prince Jagat Singh of Jaipur, late Raja of Isarda, born on 15 October 1949, who was granted his uncle's fief as a subsidiary title. Jagat Singh was the half-brother to [[Bhawani Singh]], who was the eldest son of his father born by his father's first wife.<ref name=k/>

As a style icon, Gayatri was shot by photographer [[Cecil Beaton]] for [[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sawai Man Singh II, Maharaja of Jaipur; Maharani Gayatri Devi, Rajmata of Jaipur |url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw145922/Sawai-Man-Singh-II-Maharaja-of-Jaipur-Maharani-Gayatri-Devi-Rajmata-of-Jaipur |website=National Portrait Gallery |access-date=28 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Francis |first=Martin |date=January 2006 |title=Cecil Beaton's Romantic Toryism and the Symbolic Economy of Wartime Britain |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-british-studies/article/abs/cecil-beatons-romantic-toryism-and-the-symbolic-economy-of-wartime-britain/10398D6621D65EFDFB5C40DAC9BA354F |journal=Journal of British Studies |language=en |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=90–117 |doi=10.1086/497057 |s2cid=146595646 |issn=1545-6986|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Gayatri was described by Beaton as one of the ten most beautiful women in the world.<ref name="sahwney2004">{{Cite news |last=Sahwney |first=Anubha |date=24 April 2004 |title=I've never felt beautiful: Gayatri Devi |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/ive-never-felt-beautiful-gayatri-devi/articleshow/637768.cms |work=The Times of India |access-date=29 October 2023 |issn=0971-8257}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Instagram |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx7KU9nNzO-/?img_index=1 |website=Instagram |access-date=29 October 2023}}</ref> In a 2004 interview, Gayatri mentioned ''"I have never felt beautiful...I remember as a young girl, my mother had to literally force me into applying lipstick, physical appearance doesn't bother me, it never has, it never&nbsp;will"''.<ref name="sahwney2004"/> In 1962 Jacqueline Kennedy visited Gayatri Devi in India and were photographed together at a Polo match and on her tour of India.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Zubrzycki |first=John |date=29 July 2021 |title=Jaipur's Last Stand |url=https://www.historytoday.com/miscellanies/jaipurs-last-stand |magazine=History Today |access-date=29 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Thottam |first=Jyoti |date=17 August 2009 |title=Gayatri Devi |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,1914977,00.html |magazine=Time |access-date=29 October 2023 |issn=0040-781X}}</ref> In 2019 an exhibition 'Maharani: ‘Remembering the Princess'" was held in Mumbai to celebrate the Maharani's Centennial year.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Kanwar |first=Dharmendar |date=1 October 2019 |title=Remembering the legacy of Maharani Gayatri Devi on her 100th birthday |url=https://www.vogue.in/culture-and-living/content/maharani-gayatri-devi-mumbai-exhibition-saris |magazine=Vogue India |access-date=30 October 2023}}</ref> In 2013 designer Sabyasachi made five limited edition [[sari]]s presented at the Taj Mahal Palace in honour of Devi's enduring style icon status.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Chande |first=Jerusha Ratnam |date=15 January 2013 |title=Sabyasachi's Maharani saris |url=https://www.vogue.in/content/sabyasachi-maharani-saris |magazine=Vogue India |access-date=30 October 2023}}</ref>

She started two schools in Jaipur, [[Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls’ Public School]] established in 1943<ref>{{cite news |title=Rajmata Gayatri Devi |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/royalty-obituaries/5934077/Rajmata-Gayatri-Devi.html |publisher=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |date=29 July 2009 |location=London}}</ref> and Maharaja Sawai Man Singh Vidyalaya, Jaipur which is a co-educational school in memory of her husband.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Philosophy|url=http://www.msmsvidyalaya.in/philosophy|access-date=30 June 2021|website=www.msmsvidyalaya.in}}</ref> She revived and promoted the dying art of [[Blue Pottery of Jaipur|blue pottery]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Roopa |first=Nupur |date=7 April 2018 |title=Jaipur's blue mystic battles loss of lustre |url=https://www.livemint.com/Sundayapp/rUQoY44EuDxc8Gyku46eeL/Jaipurs-blue-mystic-battles-loss-of-lustre.html |access-date=28 October 2023 |website=mint |language=en}}</ref>