By: Nicole Madigan
Who doesn’t love a good princess tale? And no, I’m not talking about the ones that all have happy endings. Many princess tales in history ended in tragedy, but that does not mean that princesses haven’t lived fascinating lives. We should celebrate those who used their power and influence for the greater good, such as the princesses who participated in politics when it was not common for women to do so. We will explore the lives of three princesses who impacted modern life and inspired the tales we continue to tell.
Gayatri Devi - Princess of Cooch Behar
Princess Gayatri Devi was a Hindu Princess born in the municipality of Cooch Behar in the Indian State of West Bengal. During her life, she was a successful politician, a renowned beauty, and a fashion icon. In 1940, she was married to the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II, becoming a consort of Jaipur.
She studied in several schools in London and Switzerland during her early life. She traveled Europe extensively with her mother and sisters. She was an avid horse rider and a competent polo player. She liked cars and even imported the first Mercedes-Benz W126 to India. The magazine Vogue described her as one of the Ten Most Beautiful Women.
Though she was born into royalty, she did not sit back and let life pass by without getting involved. She entered India’s political landscape and became one of the first women to win a seat in the Indian Parliament. She was a prominent member of the Swantantra Part, a liberal political party from 1959 to 1974. Their ideology centered around social justice and equality for all people.
Gayatri wrote an autobiography titled A Princess Remembers: The Memoirs of the Maharani of Jaipur. The autobiography details her life from childhood onward, touching on subjects such as her childhood, a love affair, and her marriage and life in the Pink Palace.
Gayatri Devi died in 2009 at the age of 90 due to lung failure. Her story lives on in her autobiography and in a 2013 French documentary called Gayatra Devi, une princesses au pays des Maharajas.
>> A Princess Remembers: The Memories of the Maharani of Jaipur is available for purchase at Eva’s Used Books. <<
Lady Georgiana - Duchess of Devonshire
Lady Georgiana Spacer is the very distant aunt of Diana, Princess of Wales. Georgiana was a charismatic and intelligent, though self-conscious young woman. Even so, she appeared to handle any situation with grace and dignity. She also showed a need to please others. While this was regarded as a kind personality trait, it caused Georgiana to be vulnerable to peer pressure and constantly need attention.
Georgiana flew into the public eye in 1774 by marrying the wealthy William Cavendish, the 5th Duke of Devonshire. At the time of her marriage, Georgiana was 17, and William was 25. With a noble upbringing and the wealth and influence she gained by marrying William, Georgiana became a socialite and was considered the queen of fashionable society.
Her marriage, however, was not all happy. As an emotionally reserved man, William failed to provide Georgiana with the attention and emotional needs she required. In 1782, Georgiana met Lady Elizabeth Foster, also known as Bess, in Bath. The two formed an intimate relationship, and it was agreed that Bess would live with Georgiana and William. It wasn’t long before William began an affair with Bess, and Georgiana was complicit in this relationship.
In addition to her socialite status, Georgiana was also a politician during a time when women’s rights were far from realization. She was a Whig and an activist and relished enlightenment. She openly campaigned for her distant cousin, Charles James Fox, for anti-monarchy policies and liberty against tyranny.
But her personal life does not end there. Georgiana was an avid reader and writer, had a small laboratory where she conducted experiments, and was also a gambler.
Georgiana died in 1806 at the age of 48, and it was allegedly the first time her husband showed emotion toward his wife. She is buried in the family vault in Derby.
>> Georgiana’s legacy lives on in the biography Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman, available at Eva’s Used Books. <<
Anastasia Romanov - Grand Duchess of Russia
The legend of what did or did not happen to Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov is well known worldwide. Many books and movies explore the possibilities of Anastasia’s demise or rumored escape from the attack on her family in 1918. The family’s murder is the widely accepted theory, but naturally, many different ideas came out as to what really happened on that July day.
Anastasia was born in 1901 to Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, Alexandra. Her family was unhappy that she was a girl, as the Tsar already had three daughters. Nicholas and Alexandra would eventually give birth to a boy, though he was very sickly and weak.
As a child, Anastasia was gifted, bright, and energetic, though she occasionally pushed the limits regarding acceptable behavior. Because of this, her family considered her a genius in naughtiness.
During the Russian Revolution in February 1917, the rebels placed Anastasia and her family under house arrest. As the Bolsheviks moved closer, the Romanov family moved several times to stay under the radar. But it wouldn’t be enough. After October 1917, Russia fell into civil war, and it seemed that no one else in Europe would come to the family’s aid and help release them from captivity. In July 1918, the Whites (anti-Bolshevik forces) eventually found the family, but they were gone. The Whites assumed the family was murdered.
So what happened? Could the family have been saved? Writer Helen Rapport made her mission to tell the world why the Romanovs didn’t try to help them. In her book, The Race to Save the Romanovs, Rappaport draws on new sources and picks away false claims and conspiracies.
Check out Eva’s Used Books in Israel for more fascinating world history tales.
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