Browse Topics
Tools
Editor's choice

Spanish food recipe: Pollo Asado

Prepare a perfect Spanish roast chicken by following Sandra Piddock’s recipe.

Top 10 restaurants in Madrid

Here's our pick of the top ten restaurants in the Spanish capital.

Spain's North-South divide

Sun-seeking pensioners live in southern Spain, while arty young entrepreneurs move to Barcelona or Madrid. True or just cliché?

Favourite restaurants in Barcelona

Blogger Jeremy Holland on where to find good, old-fashioned American hamburgers, rich authentic Italian pasta and traditional Catalan bocadillos.

Internaxx Stock Market
Index Last Var.(%)
BEL 20 2119.3 0.50
DAX 5252.45 1.50
IBEX 30 10726.8 0.59
CAC 40 3377.59 1.40
FTSE 100 4564.5 0.79
AEX 276.85 0.95
DJIA 9096.72 -0.13
Nasdaq 1975.51 0.39
FTSE MIB 20341.67 1.65
TSX Composite 10570.54 -1.74
ASX 4148.9 -0.60
Hang seng 20135.5 -2.37
Straits Times 0.00
ISEQ 20 442.48 0.27
You are here: Home Life in News Focus The real princess diaries in Spain

17/06/2009The real princess diaries in Spain

The true story of Maha Akhtar who lived every girl’s dream when she realised she was the granddaughter of an Indian Maharaja.

When Maha Akhtar tried to renew her British passport while studying in Spain, she discovered that her mother had not told her the truth about her father, and she was the granddaughter of an Indian Maharaja.

Akhtar has not completely gotten over the shock, and while her family story could become a Hollywood film, she has written a book called The Maharani's Hidden Granddaughter to tell her side of the tale.

Akhtar was taken aback when her request for a birth certificate, which she needed to complete her passport application, was turned down. She did some digging and learned that she was not born in Australia as her mother had told her, but in Lebanon.

More surprisingly, her father was Ajit Singh, offspring of Anita Delgado and Jagatjit Singh. Delgado, a young Spanish dancer from Malaga, married Singh, one of India's richest Maharajas, 1907.

Akhtar had always thought her father was her mother's Pakistani husband.

AFP PHOTO/ HANDOUT ROCAEDITORIAL"I felt tremendous anger and shock, I felt like I had lived a lie but with time, and by discussing what had happened with my aunt, I started to feel compassion towards my mother," the 44-year-old Akhtar said at the presentation of her memoirs in Madrid this month.

The marriage of Anita and the Maharaja of Kapurthala in northern India is well known in Spain thanks to the 2005 book Passion India by Javier Moro that tells the story of the couple.

Oscar-winning Spanish actress Penelope Cruz bought the rights to the book with hopes of turning it into a movie in which she would play the lead role.

Anita met Jagatjit, (a prince18 years her senior) when he came to Spain for the wedding of King Alfonso XIII in 1906 to Princess Victoria Eugenie.

She married him the following year at the age of 17, becoming the Maharani of Kapurthala. They divorced after she had an affair with one of the Maharaja's sons from one of his four previous marriages.

In the 1960s their son Ajit had a brief affair with Akhtar 's mother, Zahra Ajami, which resulted in her returning to Beirut alone and pregnant.

0 reactions to this article

participate in the forums
ask your question
find the business you need
Discussion Forums

Jobs

Part Time Work Needed in Madrid and Barcelona, by marthaa

Soapbox

Books on Spain for Christmas, by shuggie

Travel & Transport

backpacking in Australia, by Zuri

Discuss Spanish Culture

Are Spanish people Tactless and arrogant or just forthright?, by john4efc66

Jobs

cvExpres, work in Spain as a teacher in a private school or academie, by santi21

participate in the forums

Inside Expatica
Checklist for expats moving to Spain

Checklist for expats moving to Spain

Before you head out to explore the new city, make sure your paperwork's all done by referring to our guide.

Job hunting in Spain

Job hunting in Spain

Looking for a job just got harder with the global recession. Here’s a guide to make things a tad easier.

How to open a bank account in Spain

How to open a bank account in Spain

Expatica's guide to opening a bank account in Spain.

Unique festivals in Spain

Unique festivals in Spain

Too many fiestas and too little time; Expatica presents our pick of the top monthly festivals in Spain so you won’t miss out on the action.