She caught the eye of the dashing Man Singh, the maharajah of Jaipur, and in 1940 she became his third wife -- the 'third her highness' of one of India's wealthiest royal families. Family members cautioned her before the wedding that the Jaipur ruler, an avid polo player, loved the ladies and might take a fourth wife. Her response: He wouldn't need any more after her. She was right. When she died in late July at age 90, the woman once described as one of the most beautiful in the world had outlived her husband by nearly 40 years -- and outlasted his other wives, too. But, as some people are saying these days, any family with four sons from three wives is asking for trouble. A battle royal is brewing over her estimated $470 million estate, which includes palaces, antiques, jewels and stuffed tiger heads from royal hunts. 'This is basically what every Indian family does -- fight over property -- only it's on a massive scale,' said Tikam Chand, 42, a photographer-for-hire who's worked a patch of sidewalk outside Jaipur's City Palace, one of the properties in dispute, for the last quarter-century. 'Rather than help their parents while they're alive, they wait till they die and squabble.' A mapping of the players, intrigues and alliances involved in the royal soap opera would tax the abilities of Rand McNally. The CliffsNotes version: There are essentially two main rivals to the fortune. In one camp is Gayatri Devi's grandson Devraj Singh, the offspring of her beloved son who drank himself to death after marrying a Thai princess. Singh had a falling-out with Devi and was disowned before there may, or may not, have been a rapprochement. In the other camp are brothers Jai and Prithviraj Singh, sons of the maharajah's second wife who may, or may not, have done a little 'editing' of Devi's will, according to rumors circulating around Jaipur. Members of the royal family and their representatives could not be reached for comment. During her life, Gayatri Devi was beloved for her philanthropy, common touch and campaigns as an elected politician defending the poor and the environment. But younger generations of royals have exhibited little of this, royal watchers said, with their behavior more driven by greed and abuse of privilege. This reputation wasn't helped when Vajit Singh, grandson of the 'second her highness,' reportedly killed a child and injured four other people late last year while driving 'heavily inebriated,' according to media reports, and was quietly cleared of charges. 'The younger generations are absolutely useless,' said a Jaipur resident in touch with local aristocrats. 'These fights and antics will ultimately finish the royals as an institution.' (Begin optional trim) India's normally aggressive media tend to give the royals a wide berth. There's no paparazzi treatment, and coverage of most scandals is limited to the protagonists' own statements. 'Partly this is out of respect,' said P.N. Vasanti, director of New Delhi's Center for Media Studies. 'The media's also afraid of offending the royals, since many are still well-connected politically.' (End optional trim) Although some people, such as Tikan Das, 62, a Jaipur rickshaw driver earning $3 a day, said the fortune should be distributed among India's legions of poor, others expressed little resentment for the family's wealth. This may be explained in part by India's strong belief in reincarnation and the idea that whatever happens is meant to be, said Sharada Dwivedi, an author of five books about Indian princes. 'Obviously this family must have done something good in their last life to have such wealth,' said Ramrit Pal Singh, 55, a businessman. 'They have good karma.' Farmer Jagdish Gujjar, 60, sitting under a tree in Tonk, 50 miles south of Jaipur, said his grandfather suffered under their local ruler, the Nawab of Tonk. 'He was an absolute tyrant,' Gujjar said. 'He took half of everything we grew, nearly killing us with his demands. People were delighted when his rule ended.' Gujjar said he grew up hearing tales about another local ruler generations before who had instituted a rule giving him the right to sleep with any bride in his kingdom on her wedding night. 'It's never nice when people fight,' he said. 'But these guys used to suck our blood and are now getting what they deserve.' The Nawab of Tonk, the Jaipur maharajah and hundreds of other rulers -- long puppets of the British, royal historians say -- saw their nominal rule end with independence in 1947 and their subsidies eliminated in 1971. Today, many royal offspring, stripped of land and income, have been reduced to penury, and property fights have become common, some dragging on for decades. By and large, Gayatri Devi lived a charmed life. Born wealthy, she married into a family that in earlier generations used solid-gold tongue scrapers, kept parrots trained to ride little silver bicycles and a live turtle encrusted with diamonds and rubies as a good-luck charm. At the time of her marriage, royal wives were expected to remain closeted. Gayatri Devi broke numerous social rules, wearing slacks in public, driving cars, appearing with bobbed hair, riding horses and playing squash and tennis. She also developed friendships with numerous global celebrities, including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis In 1962, she won a parliament seat with more than 90 percent of the vote, prompting President John F. Kennedy to quip to some U.S. senators when they met at the White House: 'This lady has won by a bigger majority than we'll ever get.' She was re-elected in 1967 and 1971, running against then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's Congress party. Just before the 1971 election, her husband died of a heart attack on a polo field. Gandhi's dislike for Gayatri Devi reportedly played a part in her decision to abolish the privy purses -- essentially subsidies -- and all other royal privileges, thereby breaking a 1947 treaty and decimating many royal lifestyles. Some families, including Gayatri Devi's, adapted by leasing out parts of their palaces as luxury hotels. Gandhi's government threw Gayatri Devi in jail for five months for holding foreign currency, all of about $15, in violation of tax policy. While Gayatri Devi was there, friends continued to send her Beluga caviar and copies of Tatler, the British high-society magazine. Some said Gandhi was resentful that there was a more intelligent, better-looking woman in politics. In recent days, the family has clammed up, apparently wary of the unseemly publicity surrounding the brawl for the royal booty. But that hasn't dampened public interest or speculation. 'They have land, palaces, you name it,' said Shiv Narayan, 65, a parking-lot attendant at the City Palace. 'With everything God gave them, they really shouldn't fight like this.' Anshul Rana in the Times' New Delhi bureau contributed to this report. 