Anne Keleny on Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma

“He was educated by 14 palace tutors. He remembered a childhood stay with his mother in London, when he folded up as a paper boat a doctors’ report about his being too fat, and set it adrift on the Thames, so that she would not see it. He studied economics at Travancore University, and was a Sanskrit scholar.”

“The man still called “king” in Travancore, south India, found himself the centre of world attention in his nineties in June 2011 when the temple hoard of which he was guardian came to light. The rubies, diamonds, 18ft gold chains, golden bows and arrows, gold umbrellas, coins, and diadems piled in six vaults under the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Trivandrum, Travancore’s capital, were estimated as being worth £26 billion.”

“He remained well-loved, and presided over about 200 ceremonies annually such as the deity’s sea-bathing. He received visitors including, in 2013, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, and, farther back, Somerset Maugham, Agatha Christie and Eleanor Roosevelt, who noted the matrilineal rules of succession, saying she did not understand them, but thought they were good for women”