Gayatri Devi was born May 23, 1919, into a royal family, the daughter of the erstwhile maharaja of Cooch Behar, which is now part of West Bengal.

An avid polo lover, she was the third wife of Sawai Man Singh II, the former maharaja of Jaipur who also was a famous polo player. She was an active socialite and took interest in other activities too.

She started the Maharani Gayatri Devi School (MGD) for girls' education in Jaipur in 1940, and promoted the dying art of blue pottery.

In 1962, she entered politics and won with an astounding majority to become a Lok Sabha member from Jaipur. She won the seat again in 1967 and 1971 on the Swatantra Party ticket against the Congress party. She was lodged in Tihar Jail in Delhi during Emergency.

Her only son Jagat Singh had died some time back and her grandchildren live abroad. She had a house in London where she would spend some time every year.