Memoirs of Travancore King:

The memoirs of the 89-year-old Uthradom Tirunal, is a journey through a period of political upheaval and pangs of historic transition which saw the country becoming independent from the British rule and the princely states getting integrated with the Indian Union.
The erstwhile Travancore princely state, with an area of 7,525 square miles, became part of unified Kerala along with the British ruled Malabar and the princely state of Cochin in 1956.
The 274-page book, brought out by Konark Publishers, has also a large number of rare pictures throwing light into the royal past.
Uthradom Tirnunal has been a voracious reader and a keen traveller and his life has been full of memorable encounters with a wide range of personalities, including Queen Elizabeth II of England.
He met the British princess in 1933 before she became the Queen of England. Years later, in 1954, during her visit to Bangalore, he had an opportunity to be present at a tea party hosted in honour of the Queen.
A witness to the history of an era of colourful personalities, Tirnunal recalls that the list of distinguished guests received by the Travancore Palace in the last century could be long, including Lord Mountbatten, the last British Governor General of India, Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of former U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt and Jacqueline Kennedy.
In her letters, Jacqueline used to address him as “Your Highness”, which according to the writer, is something that Americans normally would not do.
A gifted photographer and nature enthusiast, the prized picture collections of Tirunal included a black and white picture of the famed Sabarimala temple taken 70 years ago, tucked in dense forests.