How far would you go to be with the person you love? Well, Sita Devi, the princess of Baroda shattered all walls and broke the chains of social norms to marry the last king of Baroda, Pratap Singh Gaekwad. She belonged to an opulent home and led an extravagant life and was also a fashion icon.
Early Life
Sita Devi was the sole child of the Maharaja of Pithapuram and Sri Rani Chinnamamba Devi and was born in 1917. Pithapuram was a significant principality at the time in the Madras Presidency. Sita Devi married Mekka Appa Rao Vuyyuru’s affluent Zamindar, who possessed considerable amounts of land. They were parents to a boy. She was the Princess Consort of Vuyyuru from 1935-1943.
She met the last ruling king of Gaekwad in a horse race and after being married to Mekka Appa Rao for 8 years she decided to wed the last king of Gaekwad, Pratap Singh.
They were unable to solemnise their marriage because Sita Devi was already married. Therefore, Sita Devi had to first convert to Islam, end her current marriage, then return to Hinduism before marrying the Maharaja, according to the law. She became the Maharani Sita Devi of Baroda in 1946 after they acted on this advise.
Pratap Singh was a wealthy royal, he was then the second richest in the country and that also contributed to the luxurious lifestyle of Sita Devi. Maharani Sita Devi of Baroda settled permanently in Monte Carlo after purchasing a mansion there as per Tribune reports.
The Maharaja would frequently pay her visits there and would frequently bring with him a great deal of money from Baroda, including priceless jewellery as well as cash. The pair travelled to the US twice after the Second World War, when they allegedly spent more than $10 million on shopping. The Maharaja had borrowed money from the Baroda Treasury at no interest, the Indian authorities later discovered. He was subsequently forced to use $8 million of his yearly salary to pay back the loan.
The Maharani loved automobiles and was said to have had a special Mercedes W126 built for her by Mercedes-Benz.
She has a dreamy apartment in Paris as well as TIMES reports. She continued to live in grand style, and enjoyed drinking Baron de Rothschild’s Bordeaux. She also had a fascination for sarees.
Sita Devi passed away at the age of 71 due to natural causes inscribing her name in history as the princess who broke all the boundaries for love.