Soha Ali Khan reveals her grandfather ran out of money while building Pataudi palace: 'That’s why we have more carpets than marble in some places'

Soha Ali Khan recently shared details about her family's royal heritage and their historic residence, Pataudi Palace. She revealed that instead of painting the palace, her brother, Saif Ali Khan, opts for a white-wash to save costs.

In an interview with Cyrus Broacha, Soha explained that their mother, Sharmila Tagore, manages the household accounts, keeping track of daily and monthly expenses. "My mother sits with her hisaab-kitaab; she knows daily expenditure and monthly expenditure. For example, we whitewash Pataudi, it’s not painted because it’s a lot less expensive. And we haven’t bought anything new for a long time. It’s the architecture of the place that’s most inviting; it’s not the things, it’s not the objects," she said.

Soha also shared that she was born after the abolition of privy purses and royal titles in 1970, while her brother Saif was born a prince. She added, "With the titles comes a lot of responsibility and bills… My grandmother was the begum of Bhopal and my grandfather was the nawab of Pataudi; he loved her for many years but was not allowed to marry her..."




She revealed that her grandfather ran out of money while building the palace and that’s why they have more carpets than marble in some places. She said that she manages the ‘generator room,’ which is a two-BHK space.

The Pataudi Palace, now owned by Saif Ali Khan, was previously owned by their late father, Mansoor Ali Khan. Saif bought it back after a hotel company took over. The palace was originally built by Saif’s grandfather, Nawab Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi.



Known as Ibrahim Kothi, Pataudi Palace is located in Pataudi, Haryana, and spans 10 acres with 150 rooms, including dressing rooms, bedrooms, billiard rooms, drawing rooms, and dining rooms. The family now uses the estate as a vacation home and rents it out for film productions. Recent films like Animal and Saif’s series Tandav were shot at the palace.

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