Born into a royal family of Sarahan in Shimla district in the royal family of the erstwhile princely state of Bushahr on 23 June 1934, former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, popularly known as Raja Sahib, was anointed the king at the age of 13 in 1947. 

He remained the 122nd titular king till 1971 when the privy purses of the princes were abolished and official recognition of their titles ended by the 26th amendment to the Constitution.

He was the third child of Raja Padam Singh and Rani Shanti Devi. While Rajkumar Rajendra Singh was his brother, the name of his sister is not known.

Singh married Rajkumari Rattan Kumari on 28 May 1954. She passed away on 27 September 1983.

He had four daughters with her Rajkumari Jyotsna Kumari, Rajkumari Anuradha Kumari, Rajkumari Abhilasha Kumari and Rajkumari Meenakshi Kumari.

He then married Pratibha Singh on 28 November 1985 and has one son Vikramaditya Singh and daughter Aparajita Singh with her.

Singh studied at Bishop Cotton School in Shimla before graduating from Delhi's St Stephen’s College.

How did he get into politics? In an interview to a publication once, Singh had claimed that he was never interested in politics and wanted to be a professor.

It so happened that in 1962 he received a call from Lal Bahadur Shastri who asked him to meet Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

A surprised Singh came went to Nehru's Teen Murti Marg residence in Delhi where Indira Gandhi took him to meet the Prime Minister who quizzed him about Himachal Pradesh politics.

The next thing, Singh, then 25, was given ticket to contest the Lok Sabha elections.

Singh died on 8 July 2021 in Shimla at the age of 87.

In the first picture, a young Virbhadra Singh is seen with his mother, wife and two daughters.

The second photo is of Virbhadra Singh with his father and brother.

In the third picture, he and his wife Rajkumari Ratan Kumari is seen with first President of India Dr Rajendra Prasad.

In the fourth photo, Raja Sahib is with his second wife Pratibha Singh and son Vikramaditya Singh.

To be continued....