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 .