Bhawani Singh

Brigadier Sawai Bhawani Singh Bahadur MVC (22 October 1931 – 17 April 2011) was the titular Maharaja of Jaipur from 24 June 1970 to 28 December 1971, when all titles, privileges, and privy purses associated with princely states in India were abolished by the 26th Amendment to the Constitution of India. He died at age 79 due to multi-organ failure.

Early life
Born to Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II and his first wife, Marudhar Kanwar of Jodhpur, Bhawani Singh was educated at Sheshbagh School, Srinagar, The Doon School, Dehradun, and later Harrow School in the United Kingdom. As the first male heir born to a reigning maharaja of Jaipur for generations (all others, including his father, who was originally a minor noble, were adopted), his birth was a celebrated event in Jaipur. It is said that so much champagne flowed in celebration of his birth that the new heir was nicknamed "Bubbles".

Military career
In 1968, Sawai Bhawani Singh was second-in-command of the 10th Parachute Regiment (Commando), one of the two elite Special Forces battalions, the other being the 9 para commando regiment, in India at the time, and became the Commanding Officer (CO) later in 1968.

He was awarded India's second highest military honour, the Maha Vir Chakra, for his gallantry in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier in 1974. In his retirement, he also served as Indian High Commissioner to Brunei from 1994 to 1997.

Royal life
Sawai Bhawani Singh ascended the throne of Jaipur on 24 June 1970 following the death of his father, and held the title of Maharaja until the abolition of the princely order, his Privy Purse and other royal entitlements by Indira Gandhi in 1971, although he remained generally honored like most other erstwhile rulers.

He married Princess Padmini Devi of Sirmur on 10 March 1966 in a ceremony held at Delhi. She was the daughter of his father's polo-playing friend HH Maharaja Rajendra Prakash of Sirmur by his wife Maharani Indira Devi. The royal couple have one daughter, Princess Diya Kumari (b. 30 January 1971).

Having half-brothers but no son, in November 2002 he adopted his daughter's elder son Padmanabh, who succeeded him as titular Maharaja of Jaipur upon his death.

Other
In the same vein as his father, the first hotelier prince in India, Sawai Bhawani Singh ran many palaces as hotels, including the Rambagh Palace, Raj Mahal Palace, or other former royal residences. He conducted certain ceremonies and customs from the traditional seat of royal power, the sprawling City Palace, Jaipur, part of which remains under the control of his family.

Political career
Following his retirement from the army, Sawai Bhawani Singh contested the Lok Sabha elections in the year 1989 for the Indian National Congress Party but lost to the Bharatiya Janata Party leader Girdhari Lal Bhargava. He then retired from active politics and devoted his time to his family and the protection and continuation of Jaipur's traditional arts and heritage.

He was also involved in local politics, as was his late stepmother, Gayatri Devi, his father's third wife. In 1975 he was arrested and imprisoned for a short period during The Emergency due to his opposition at that time to the Congress Party.

Death
Sawai Bhawani Singh, was admitted to a private hospital in Gurgaon, Haryana on March 29 and died on April 17, 2011 following multi-organ failure.

Ashok Gehlot, then Chief Minister of Rajasthan announced three days of state mourning. His body was flown to Jaipur and kept at the City Palace for people to pay their last respect before being cremated.

He was cremated on April 18, 2011 at Gaitore Ki Chatriya, the royal crematorium in Jaipur with full state honours.