<P>12-year-old crowned Maharaja of Jaipur
[April 30 2011]

<P>A 12-year-old boy has been crowned Maharaja of Jaipur, becoming head
of what was once one of India's most glamorous and wealthy royal families.

<P>Kumar Padmanabh Singh was blessed by priests at the coronation ceremony before he walked slowly through the city palace to receive a military guard of honour.

<P>Among his entourage of white-clad aides during Wednesday's rituals were two bearers armed with fly whisks and another carrying a decorated parasol to protect his head from the glaring sun.

<P>Like all Indian royal titles, the Maharaja of Jaipur is no longer legally recognised after independence from Britain in 1947 and government reforms in the 1970s.

<P>Padmanabh Singh's grandfather, polo-playing Sawai Bhawani Singh, was hailed as "the last Maharaja of Jaipur" when he died two weeks ago because he had come to the throne shortly before all royal privileges were removed. -Daily Telegraph