Saif Ali Khan reveals his father Neglected the Royal Responsibilities!

Saif Ali Khan, who is a Prince of Pataudi and a rightful heir to the throne, earned his palace after it was rented to a hotel chain post the death of his father Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi. It's evident, reclaiming a palace is not an easy task and it needs a load of capital to repossess the lost property (especially when it is an ancestral home).

The actor talked briefly about Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and mentioned how he bunked his responsibilities as a father.  

Meanwhile, fans have been irked to know how Saif managed to reacquire the palace?

Talking about the same to Mid-Day, the Laal Kaptan actor said, “People have a certain fixed notion. For that matter, even [with] Pataudi [palace], when my father [Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi] died, it got rented to Neemrana Hotels. Aman [Nath] and Francis [Wacziarg] used to run [the hotel]. Francis passed away. He’d said that if I wanted [the palace] back, I could let him know. I said: ‘I want it back’. They held a conference, and said, ‘okay, you have to give us lots of money!’ Which I then consequently earned.”

He added, “So, even the house I’m supposed to have inherited has been earned back through money from films. You can’t live off the past. At least we can’t in our family, because there was nothing. There is history, culture, beautiful photographs; and, of course, some land. It has been a privileged upbringing. But there’s been no inheritance.”

Talking about his childhood, the actor said, “I was born and raised in Bombay. My father lived with my mother in her [Carmichael Road] flat... He had just finished playing cricket. His last Test series was when I was four/five. My mother [actor Sharmila Tagore] says he was bunking his responsibilities. His mother was looking after things in Bhopal and Pataudi. She’d got old. So we moved to Delhi to live with her.”

The actor was ceremonially crowned as the Nawab of Pataudi back in 2011 after the death of his father. 

Saif and wife Kareena Kapoor, along with their son Taimur, often join Sharmila Tagore at the Pataudi Palace. Kareena had celebrated her birthday this year at the palace in the company of the Khans and sister Karisma Kapoor.