She has done so much for her home state by giving so many of us from Cooch Behar jobs in the palace,' an elderly butler told this correspondent in chaste Bengali.

Her airy home was like a family archive full of family photographs and memorabilia. Rambagh Palace was close to her heart, he said.

It was there that Gayatri Devi was first brought and presented to the local nobility in Jaipur after her wedding in Europe. A discerning fashionista, who chose the best brands of the day, she was often compared to former US first lady and style icon Jacqueline Kennedy, whom she had met.

The maharani, who spent the early years of married life in luxury hunting, partying and holidaying in Europe, forayed into politics in 1962 by contesting and winning Lok Sabha elections from Jaipur. She took interest in social activities, built an exclusive school for girls in Jaipur and promoted the traditional blue pottery of Rajasthan.

She won the Jaipur seat again in 1967 and 1971 on a Swatantra Party ticket against the Congress party. This angered Indira Gandhi, who hit back by accusing the queen of breaking tax laws. Gayatri Devi was arrested and spent five months in Tihar jail.

She subsequently quit politics and wrote her memoirs jointly with Santha Rama Rau in 1976. She was also the central character in a movie, 'Memoirs of a Hindu Princess' directed by Francois Levie.

Gayatri Devi was related to a number of erstwhile royal families in India. Her maternal grandparents were maharaja Sayajirao and maharani Chimnabai of Baroda and she was related to the royal families of Jodhpur, Dewas, Tripura and Pithapuram.

Says lifestyle writer Roopa Bakshi: 'The maharani was devout. She regularly visited a Shiva temple atop Moti Dungri in Jaipur. Perhaps, she was the first people's princess who could have easily become the leader of the Swatantra Party that was founded by freedom fighter C. Rajagopalchary in the fifties.'

She chose to give it up. But this was one queen who with her beauty and charm always reigned over the hearts of many Indians.