From Patiala's Princess Inayatinder Kaur to Jaisalmer's Chaitanya Raj, a look at India's royal reformers

What happens when you’re linked to history, yet remain part of the here and now? Be it distant Dharamshala, sand-duned Jaisalmer, Himalayan Kashmir, a very French Kapurthala or even peaceful Patiala, India’s royal scions have a legacy to uphold, a history to preserve. For, in the dusty lanes of a tiny town resides your palace, fort and jungle lodge, a piece of the princely past and yours to live in, conserve, spruce up and convert into the finest heritage hotel chain, or a museum, or even a palace studio. Many of these royal heirs and heiresses turn to politics, some to the arts, education and grass root development. But whatever role they take, they have to shine through like their legendary ancestors did. HELLO! profiles the royal game changers who are to the manor born.

1. Princess Gauravi Kumari

She wears her legacy like a haute couture creation. Precious, bespoke, to be crafted afresh in every era. History has lavished beauty on Jaipur’s royal women. Princess Gauravi is a perfect portrait of contemporary styling meeting pristine elegance. Her ballerina-slender frame and innate, stoic elegance lend a lightness to her portraits, punctuated by ever-so-subtle facial expressions.

HELLO!: Your mom’s generation was quite sheltered, but you were empowered by the freedom and opportunity to study at New York University (after Mayo College in Ajmer). You also pursued a BA in Media, Communications and Fashion Business from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study. How did this education support your vision?

Princess Gauravi: I’m lucky to have had the opportunity to study abroad and be in such a vibrant city. Being in a place like New York, it’s impossible not to be inspired by the diversity, the vibrancy and the culture. It’s also where I developed my interest in fashion and creativity, both through my education and experience of being in New York. It helped me find my path to The PDKF Store and The Palace Atelier. 

HELLO!: If there’s one change you wish to see in your lifetime for any of your family-owned properties, what would that be? Or if there’s one vision you’d like to see realised for your generation of young royals, what would it be?

Princess Gauravi: Not a change, but to see the past, present and future bridged further. The City Palace is a living heritage site; it’s not just a tourist attraction, it’s where my family and I still reside. We’re constantly discussing the importance of using our spaces to facilitate conversations about art, design and heritage, and that’s something we’re all committed to doing more of. The Sculpture Park at Jaigarh is a great example of this; to create a site for contemporary art in a fort that dates back to 1056 AD is really special, and we’re excited to create more experiences like that.

2. Mahanaaryaman Rao Scindia

Mahanaaryaman Rao Scindia, or Aaryaman as he prefers to be called, wears many entrepreneurial hats. The Yale-educated son of Union Minister of Communications and Maharaja of Gwalior Jyotiraditya Scindia, is also entering the public sphere with his focus on sports and education. Aaryaman co-founded the myMandi app as a way for small kiranas and thelawallas to procure fresh produce directly from centralised mandis or depots, reducing wastage and costs. 

“We’re now creating an AI inventory management system called Project Kubera, named after the God of Wealth,” he shares. Aaryaman’s self-funded startup is essentially AI for retail, with an invoice billing system and then an inventory management system, for offline kiranas, FMCG stores and pharmacists. “We’re starting with an image-based invoice system,” says Aaryaman. “So you take a picture of all the items, and it automatically generates an invoice for you. It will be linked to an AI-led inventory management system.” Another venture that’s close to Aaryaman’s heart is Pravaas, which provided experiences around food, culture and music. He launched the platform from his home, the Jai Vilas Palace in Gwalior, in 2021.

“Pravaas has also changed,” he says. “We’re now building an app that will still work around experiences, with travel, music and culinary popups—the AirBnB for experiences!”

There’s even more. As a cricket buff, the young prince is involved in his very own cricket league, the highly successful Madhya Pradesh League. “We’ve already got 11 players in the IPL from last year. Plus, we’ve added two new teams, bringing the total to seven teams,” says Aaryaman, who’s launching women’s teams this year. “I have a new rule: each team member has to go into villages and find two new players to mentor and introduce into the league.”

Amid all his interests around AI, culture and sport, Aaryaman continues his work with The Scindia School, for which he sits on the board of governors, as well his mother’s Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya. Passionate about music, especially deep house, he loves trekking and discovering new destinations. He was recently in Ibiza with his cousins.

“I love music, travel and food, so I had a great time,” says Aaryaman, who’s also an expert cook.

3. Suryajit Singh

For the disarmingly handsome London-based prince, Suryajit Singhji of Kapurthala, son of Tikka Shatrujit Singhji and grandson of His Highness Brigadier Maharaja Sukhjit Singhji, luxury runs in his blood. He’s no stranger to the world’s top brands, running luxury consultancy JMC with his father, in fashion, beauty, jewellery, wine and spirits, home décor and hospitality. Suryajit also runs MaceAero (he co-founded the firm), a UK-based boutique private aviation brokerage and advisory service for global clients, UHNIs and governments.

“Mr. Thomas Flohr, the founder, kindly led me into entering private aviation via this exceptional opportunity,” says Suryajit, who now part owns MaceAero with his aviation mentor Chris Mace, an industry veteran. Suryajit’s goal is to scale, ultimately.

Heir to the Kapurthala dynasty—one of Louis Vuitton’s biggest clients at one point of time—Suryajit is a luxury consultant to various global brands and co-founder of a London-based private aviation advisory firm. As though that weren’t enough, Suryajit is involved in his father’s 40-year-old consultancy firm JMC, which now works not only with top international brands like Cartier, Moët Hennessy, J Lindeberg, GoodEarth, Dolce & Gabbana and Christian Louboutin, but also Indian luxury brands that wish to expand into other markets.

Travel is also part of his job (or life), as the global luxury industry allows aficionados like him to access truly exceptional experiences and places like Solomeo, a village restored by designer Brunello Cucinelli to preserve their craftsmanship, or an exclusive châteaux in Bordeaux or Champagne.

And finally, he’s spilling the tea: “Since you’re HELLO! and always like the tea, it’s time to finally admit that getting married and growing my family would definitely be part of my five-year plan.” 

4. Martand Singh

The fresh-faced royal is the executive trustee of the unique 60-acre Amar Mahal Museum and Library, perched on a hill overlooking the Tawi river. The son of Vikramaditya Singh of Jammu & Kashmir and Princess of Gwalior Chitrangda Raje, Martand Singh—a lawyer by training who has practiced litigation in the Chandigarh and Delhi high courts—has been hands-on with the museum for the past five years. “I’m in charge of the maintenance, financial administration, projects, funding and upkeep of the entire museum complex,” says Martand.

Amar Mahal, a private museum open to the public, was built in 1862 by Martand’s great-great-grandfather, Maharaja Amar Singhji of Jammu & Kashmir, in the style of a European castle. “It’s not your regular Rajasthani palace,” says Martand.

“There’s nothing like it anywhere in the country. Everything, from sandstone or brick, or even the carvings, were sourced from the Jammu region.” “There are also roughly 40 paintings, all bought by my grandfather, including Swaminathans, MF Husains and a lot of Sobha Singhs. He has one of the most prominent Sobha Singh collections in India,” adds Martand, who, besides managing this historic museum, also helps with social media and marketing at his parents’ recently restored Karan Mahal Palace, now a boutique hotel in Srinagar.

Martand’s family also runs and manages the largest private religious trust in North India, the Dharmarth Trust, founded by his ancestor Maharaja Gulab Singh, the founder of Jammu & Kashmir. The temples include the Shankaracharya Mandir, the 700-year-old Bhairav Temple, the Kheer Bhawani Temple, the Raghunath Mandir, the 106-year-old wooden Gulmarg Temple (which was reduced to ashes in a fire, re-built bigger and better by the royal family’s trust).

“This really gives us a stepping stone, or deep connection with society in Jammu & Kashmir in terms of religion—from festivals and traditions to rituals,” he says.

5. Princess Inayatinder Kaur of Patiala 

Princess Inayatinder Kaur of Patiala is the epitome of a modern young Indian princess, with an eye on a design future and aesthetics deeply rooted in her family’s royal past. Then there’s the resemblance with her great grandmother, Maharani Mohinder Kaur, wife of the last ruler of Patiala state, Maharaja Yadavindra Singh.

Inayat is known for being a fashionista, with a preference for designer Rahul Mishra (“He creates phenomenal clothes internationally, with designs I just love”). Even for the HELLO! shoot, she’s styled in a black Rahul Mishra mini dress with long sleeves and spiky, 3D embellishments. She’s also wearing designs from the Hibiscus Bay collection of her homegrown label INKA, paired with shorts, Miu Miu boots and blue jeans. “Anyone who sees me isn’t looking at Princess Inayat,” she says. “They look at me not as a Delhi girl, but as a Patiala girl!”

Growing up, she first attended The Doon Girls’ School in Dehradun at the age of four, later transferred to Welham Girls’ School, and then was off with her sister Sehar to Kodaikanal International School until graduation. Inayat initially wanted to study law, so she took a foundation year at City University of London. And then came the pandemic. Realising law wasn’t her calling, she dropped out of school and returned to London to study jewellery design at the Gemological Institute of America.

Inayat’s refuge from Delhi’s madness is Moti Bagh Palace in Patiala, where she often goes, with a retinue of 10 to 14 friends in tow. “The place is so enormous that one can feel quite lonely,” she says. “It’s an adventure to go in a large group, so there’s space for everyone.” Besides enjoying Moti Bagh’s oval swimming pool and eating home-cooked food (Indian food is Inayat’s favourite, with fish Amritsari and chhole kulche topping the list), Inayat and her friends often show up at the New Moti Bagh Gun Club for its fun game room and for shooting practice.

Some of her most cherished memories are from the time King Charles came to stay with her family at Moti Bagh Palace. “He visited once in 2007 and then again in 2012,” Inayat recalls. “When you meet people like that in your own house, one ends up feeling special. There’s this heritage, culture and history behind me, but as a young girl, I did feel intimidated.” 

Perhaps the most famous necklace in the world, the Patiala diamond necklace— something Inayat posts about on her Instagram page in her ‘Diamond Talk’ series—was once worn by Maharaja Sir Bhupinder Singh. “Maharaja Bhupinder Singh was crazy about jewellery and a fanatic about his lifestyle. He wanted everything to be ùberluxurious,” she says. “He remains Cartier’s biggest buyer till date.”

Inayat has dug into her family’s archives and found a film (restored by her father) of her tall, cricket-playing, Rolls-Royce loving great-grandfather Maharaja Yadavindra Singh’s last durbar, where he’s seen in a shimmering diamond necklace and a kalgi covering his entire turban. “Back in the day, maharajas wore as much jewellery and shine as they could as a way of informing people about their pristine presence that people could look up to,” says Inayat. “Today, you only deck up when you get married; it’s not an everyday look.”

6. Chaitanya Raj Singh Bhati

Jaisalmer was the first checkpoint for Turkish and Arab traders who cruised through the Silk Route on their camels, bringing merchandise from their land to India and taking back spices and silk from this bountiful country. Dotted with a series of resplendent havelis built in the 1800s by the brocade merchants, this mystical city is named after Rawal Jaisal, who conquered Jaisalmer in 1156.

Many centuries later, this land of golden sand is presided over by a young and handsome king, Chaitanya Raj, the 44th Maharawal of Jaisalmer. Tall, gentle in demeanour and sharp in intellect, Chaitanya is a leader who cares—for his environment, his legacy and the people who, for so many eons, have adored the Bhati rulers. Born and brought up between New Delhi and Jaisalmer, Chaitanya studied humanities at Sanskriti School, after which he graduated in Oriental and African Studies from SOAS, University of London. On his return, he got engrossed in not only nursing his ailing father but also understanding the soul of his city. A social entrepreneur at heart, he was pledged to create a conscious ecosystem within Jaisalmer.

After his father’s passing, Maharawal Brijraj Singh Bhati Chaitanya was lovingly placed at the helm of the royal family’s affairs. His tilak ceremony remains possibly the most emotional of all crowning ceremonies in modern times. The entire world was teary eyed seeing this young prince emerge in an open jeep from his home, the Raj Mahal Palace that’s housed within the Jaisalmer Fort (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). Clad in royal robes, an heirloom jadau necklace, a sarpech embellished with emeralds and diamonds, and a silk pagdi, his brother Prince Janamajey firmly by his side, he was greeted everywhere with a shower of rose petals.

A people’s ruler, Chaitanya works closely with farmers, training them to turn industrial hemp into cotton, medicines and other wellness products. He also founded Polstrat, a political advisory system led by data and tech, to make policies and its makers more accessible to the public.

Interviews by Priya Kumari Rana, Sangeeta Waddhwani 
Text by Anshu Khanna 
Photographs by Sasha Jairam for Princess Gauravi Kumari, Ashish Chawla for Mahanaaryaman Rao Scindia, Raju Raman for Suryajit Singh, Abhishek Verma for Princess Inayatinder Kaur

This piece originally appeared in the April-May’25 print edition of HELLO! India.