Despite its star power with actors Ishan Khatter and Bhumi Pedneker, the recently-released Netflix series The Royals has received a lot of attention for all the wrong reasons, with viewers being left wanting for more from the leads’ chemistry to a confused plotline and unsatisfying ending. Criticism has also come from unexpected quarters: the royals of India, with members of royal families across the country sharing their two cents on what the show got right and wrong in its representation of the lives of today’s royals. Anshu Khanna, founder, Royal Fables, a heritage platform showcasing the culture of princely India, expressed that some things in the show, particularly the sale of paintings and the fictional family’s reluctance to convert palaces into a hotel, felt more fitting to royals’ of the past. She says, “When the privy purse was suddenly taken away, the royals were in a desperate state and most sales happened at that time. Today, the kids go to the best colleges in the world but come back to the remotest village where their family has a palace, to restore it and convert it into a hotel, homestay, or polo retreat, and they’re very happy to do it. It’s also common for royals to continue to live within their palaces. For example, Jaipur City Palace has converted one room into an Airbnb, but the family lives upstairs, so whoever is staying in the Airbnb, will end up meeting them. Most royals will go have a drink and chat with them.” She quips, “They definitely do not make money from selling bat poop, their palaces are not falling apart, and they are not playing polo shirtless.”
Kamakshi Devi Wadiyar, from the Mysuru royal family, firmly states that royal families are not living a debauched life. “My brother started a number of hotels and the Bangalore Palace used to be with him which turned out a considerable income but it’s not that everybody is sitting around and royal families are living a debauched life. My family has lived a simple, humble and frugal life. Now, everyone is educated and wants to work - my grandchildren have taken up jobs in finance, law, interiors, and more. We live regular lives,” she says.
In a brief moment in the show, when the royal women – the maharani, rajmata and princess are asked what they do for work, they reply that they don’t. The royal women of today say that the reality is vastly different. “Times have changed but even in earlier days, the Maratha ladies were treated on par with men and given due respect; they were known to not shy away from battles too, and they continue to be in the forefront be it administration, schools, social works,” says Ambika Raje Ghorpade of the erstwhile royal family of Sandur.
A key moment of tension in the show is the queen’s insistence on her son marrying the princess of a neighbouring kingdom. While most royals admit that they prefer marrying other royals, Vidya Gajapathi Raju of the Vijayanagar royals of Andhra Pradesh, notes that times are changing, “This has changed so much over the years. Of course as with most communities, if a match is being arranged, it usually is within the same community. But with travel, these perceptions are changing.” Kamakshi Devi adds that while arranged marriages are common, at the end of the day, there’s no point looking into the horoscope. “The happiness of your children and grandchildren matters the most,” she says.
While nobody can deny that royal families have inheritances beyond measure, royals today deny living entirely off of them as the show implies, pointing to businesses set up by several families before and after the abolition of the privy purses. Tikaraj Ambikeshwar Dev Chand Katoch of the royal family of Kangra, says, “My father entered the corporate world and was one of the first independent directors of Indiabulls. So I can safely say that the Kangra family never even looks towards living off our inheritance and we have definitely built a lot over the inheritance. My father never let me off the hook easily. From Class 10, I started interning and later ventured into the corporate world on my own. When my family lost my grandfather, and my father had much more responsibility on his shoulders, he needed me to quit my career in the corporate world and help him with the numerous businesses he had started in Himachal Pradesh. It was a no-brainer; I have been managing all his businesses for the last year and a half now,” says the 26-year-old, adding, “There are so many other young royals who are doing so much more than I am. So the show’s portrayal of young royals being spoiled brats who are happily selling their inheritance to simply party or get married to gain access to money is completely inaccurate.”
While most of it is filmed in Jaipur’s City Palace, showing off its intricately decorated doors and distinctive blue and white room. While the show does not claim to be based on the Jaipur royal family, some have wished the show was based more on the factual lives of royals. “I watched the show as many scenes are shot in the Jaipur city palace but it’s got nothing to do with the family, they are totally different and have been working on so many things – museums, schools, and the ex-Maharaja was in the army, serving the country. The filmmakers haven’t done their research and it is showing a negative light on Indian royalty. The UK has come out with such a detailed historical show like The Crown, which everybody in our country has also watched. There’s a big fan following because they have done their research properly. It’s not like they have not shown scandals, but they’ve also shown the great things that they have done, not making a joke out of their royalty,” says Vivasvat Pal, crown prince of Karauli, adding that his busy lifestyle makes the leisure-filled lifestyle of the fictional royals just that – fictional. He says, “My family has started so many different projects, education, women’s empowerment, educating the girl child, water projects, or employing 300 people in our trusts alone – there is no time for partying,” he says.
While young royals are depicted in stylish, modern outfits, royal women point out that heavy silk sarees and embroidery are simply not the go-to look for older royal women, who have a subtler dressing sense and a preference for pastel colours. Kamakshi Devi, a Wadiyar princess and daughter of former ruler of Mysore, Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, says, “My parents never wore heavy jewellery, it is a myth shown when depicting royalty. Unless it’s a wedding, people don’t get dolled up.” Ghorpade adds, “In fact, we love wearing a simple chiffon saree with a few strands of pearls. That’s how we have grown up and continue doing that.”
A key plot twist in the show comes when it’s revealed that the deceased Maharaja was gay and left his fortune to his partner. The princess, played by actor Kavya Trehan, too, realises her attraction to women during the course of the series. Despite progress in the last several years, India is not one of the safest or most accepting places to be gay. The prince of Rajpipla, Manvendra Singh Gohil, is India’s first openly gay royal, having come out in 2006 to much backlash. “There are a lot of royals across the world who are queer. But the main problem comes with reputation – there are some royal duties to be carried out, a legacy and recognition from their people which they are scared of losing and prevents them from coming out. The day I came out, people burnt my effigies on the street,” he says. Despite not many other royals have come out publicly, Gohil believes that times are changing, saying, “Today, people approach me to solve their disputes because they know that I fought for my rights with truth and honesty. People have no issue with my sexuality. No royal has come out as publicly as I have, but there have been a few who have come out to their families and near and dear ones. The younger generation is much more exposed to information – my nephews and cousins are proud of me.”