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History of KapurthalaLife Sketch of Maharaja Jagatjit SinghAs an earnest of the great popularity and the unique position, which he commands in foreign countries the French Republic, conferred upon him the Grand Cross of the Legion d'Honneur in 1924, and he had received the highest decorations from Italy, Spain and several other European, Asiatic and South American countries. His Highness represented India on the League of Nations at Geneva in 1926,1927 and 1929 and was selected to be a member of the second plenary session of the Round Table Conference in London in 1931. His Highness had travelled far and wide over the four continents, and had been twice round the world. He had been all over Europe, North, Central and South America, Egypt, China, Japan, Siam, Java and the Straits Settlements. The first of his foreign visits was undertaken in 1893 when His Highness had the honour to being invited as a guest of Queen Victoria on the marriage of his Imperial Majesty King George Vthen Duke of York. The Maharaja took part in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebration when the queen herself with the K.C.S.I. in London invested him. During his various visits to England His Highness had always been cordially received by the British sovereigns, having stayed at the Windsor castle as a guest of Queen Victoria three times, and also at the balmoral castle in 1900 before Her Majesty Queen Mary favored the maharaja with particular kindness and consideration throughout their region and invited him several times to private luncheons at the Buckingham Palace. He enjoyed the unique privilege of being present at the historic peace conference at Versailles in 1919 after the last great war. These tours apart from broadening his own mental outlook had been of practical value to the state in enabling His Highness to infuse a progressive spirit into his administration. Amongst the European Sovereigns with whom the Maharaja claimed the privilege of personal acquaintance might be mentioned Czar Nicholas of Russia; Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria, Hungary; Emperor William 11 of Germany; King Humbert and king Victor Emanuel of Italy; King Leopold, King Albert and King Leopold 11 of Belgium; King Alfonso of Spain (a very intimate friend); King Gustav of Sweden and King Hakon of Norway. He had also known every president of the French Republic from M. Sadi Carnot in 1893 to the last president, M. Lebrun, and presidents Wilson and Roosevelt of the United States of America. During his three visits to Japan, he was first received by Emperor Mutsuhito and on two occasions by the present Emperor. The impress of his charming personality and cultivated taste was apparent, particularly in the capital of the State, which had been embellished with handsome palaces and public buildings. In many ways Kapurthala had benefited from the Maharaja's application of ideas gained as a frequent and observant traveller.
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