It’s a barely believable story that 20 minutes was echoed by a consular officer stationed in India. A 34-year-old young man, currently living in Roubaix, is in fact the hidden prince of Mysore, the second city of the Indian state of Karnataka and ancient capital of the Kingdom of Mysore. Intrigued, we went through many documents and finally found the thirty-something in question, a certain Dineshradja Urs. He agreed to tell us about the discovery of his royal filiation, made up of chances and adventures, the epilogue of which should be held in court. Hang in there, because it’s a bit complicated.
Until the coronavirus epidemic spread across the planet, Dineshradja Urs was a simple bank employee in the north of France. A job that allowed him to “live properly” as he admits himself. Born in Isère in 1988, he only knows of his Indian origins what his parents wanted to tell him, by the way: “I knew that we came from a wealthy background and that my parents had left India for family reasons. But overall, we didn’t talk about that too much. The links were not cut with the country where the family returned regularly, at least in the region of Tamil Nadu where Dineshradja’s mother is from.
It all starts with a pub shot with the means at hand
In 2020, in the midst of Covid-19, the Roubaisien dropped the bank and approached Indian companies to offer them his communication services. A textile box from the Kerala region, in the southwest of India, takes the bait. “We had to make him a website, a communication plan and an ad. But as the budget was tight, I had to play myself in the commercial which was going to be broadcast in the cinemas of the region”, he explains. And it’s from this pub shot with the means at hand that everything will start.
The boss of the company receives a lot of feedback from spectators who believe they recognize in Dineshradja, Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the current Maharaja of Mysore, adopted by the previous king for lack of an heir. The resemblance is so flagrant that even the local press is inflamed, comparing photos of the two men and even wondering about possible family ties. “It was a bit far-fetched, but it made me want to dig a little deeper,” admits Dineshradja.
At the local prefecture, he thus discovered a birth certificate in his name registered in India when he was born in France: “Already, this is not normal, Dineshradja is still surprised. So I compared my Indian birth certificate and the French one. Both include my name and date of birth, except that the parents’ names are different. On the Indian document, Dineshradja has the same parents as the king of Mysore. On the French act are registered his real parents. Despite all these clues, the official Indian documents, the resemblance to the king, the Roubaisien did not want to believe it. “I said to myself that such a story is not possible, my parents would have told me about it. “Or not, because the mystery of the reason that pushed his family to leave India remains.
He discovers an incredible heritage recorded in his name
Alerted by the research undertaken by the Frenchman, the Indian tax services summon him to try to put things straight. Realizing that the two birth certificates correspond to one and the same person, the administration gives Dineshradja a huge list of property registered in his name in India and Europe: agricultural land, properties, factories… “Of course, I know that all this is not mine. I understand then that I was probably used as a nominee, as is sometimes done for tax reasons in well-to-do families”, supposes Dineshradja.
It is ultimately the realization of his family tree that will allow the Roubaisien to have the end of the story. The paternal grandmothers of Dineshradja and the current king were sisters. They are therefore not brothers but cousins. And if he cannot therefore claim the title of king, he can on the other hand take advantage of that of prince. A more honorary title than anything else, the monarchy having been abolished in India. “Today, I claim nothing other than my grandmother’s share of inheritance which comes to me by right of blood,” he says, without being able to detail the extent. .
This claim is in the hands of Indian justice and the procedure could well last a long time. “I have all the papers and my grandmother’s will specifying that I must inherit her property,” says Dineshradja. The story is simple, but in reality, there are disputes that lead to postponements. If justice recognizes this heritage, the life of Dineshradja Urs will change radically. He will be officially recognized as a prince and will come into possession of a substantial heritage. In the meantime, the Indian prince has taken up a job in a bank in Roubaix.
