Gayatri Devi in 1967. (AP)

Gayatri Devi, the princess who evoked memories of a charmed era and whose beauty was celebrated across the world, died in Jaipur on Wednesday. She was 90.

Actress Moon Moon Sen, who is married to Gayatri Devi’s nephew Bharat Dev Burman, shared a close relationship with the Rajmata who traced her roots to the Cooch Behar royal family. The Sen family recalls their association with Gayatri Devi.

Moon Moon Sen

Mashima (Gayatri Devi) had led the borjatri (the groom’s family) at our wedding…. I have learnt grooming tricks from another beautiful lady — my mother (Suchitra Sen). But Mashima taught me that real beauty doesn’t need make-up or designer clothes or accessories. Mashima hated make-up. She just carried a lipstick, a compact powder and a comb.

We have led a wonderful glamorous life through Mashima. We have met so many interesting people who were all her friends. And yet Mashima was so proud to be a Cooch Behari. She would always speak in Bengali when she was with us. And she would tell me, ‘Moon Moon, tumi amay pronam korbe (You must touch my feet).’ She would always say, ‘Ami Bangali’….

She was extremely well read, too. I remember the evenings when I would be looking after the babies and she would discuss everything under the sun, from literature to politics.

Bharat Dev Burman

whose mother Ila and Gayatri Devi were sisters

I would stay with her in Jaipur during summer since I was a child. I have also stayed with her in London, where she introduced me to Queen Elizabeth. She would take us to all the great parties and she always made sure that her nephews and nieces met everyone.

Mashima was a great polo enthusiast. She would come down to Calcutta for polo matches during winter and stay with me…. She was very international but at the same time very family-oriented.

Whenever she was in Calcutta, she would make it a point to meet all her cousins and aunts. Though she was the Rajmata of Jaipur, she was a Bengali at heart. She loved Calcutta so much. She would go to the Cooch Behar palace every year. She so wanted to do up the palace. I met her last this March in Jaipur. She has died quite peacefully. I think she was the greatest of the Indian Maharanis.

Raima Sen

Gayatri Devi and my grandmother (Suchitra Sen) met for the first time during my parents’ wedding. It was Gayatri Devi who came to my grandmother with my father’s rishta as his mother had died when he was very young…. My grandmother always found Gayatri Devi gorgeous!

She admired her a lot. Gayatri Devi, apart from my grandmother, is the most beautiful and dignified lady I have ever met

Riya Sen

Gayatri Devi had a fantastic sense of humour that cannot be matched. When we were small, she would attend our family dinners and spend more time with us than with the grown-ups. She loved my dad and they shared a lovely rapport. It’s a great loss for our family.