Sophia Duleep Singh will be honored with a commemorative Blue Plaque at Hampton Court Palace, London. She was the daughter of Maharaja Duleep Singh – the last ruler of the Sikh empire – and the goddaughter of Queen Victoria. Singh was among the leading activists who was pivotal in the movement for women’s right to vote in 1900s Britain.
English Heritage which runs the Blue Plaque scheme, said in the announcement note, “Daughter of the deposed Maharajah Duleep Singh, who already has a plaque in Holland Park (London), and goddaughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Sophia Duleep Singh was an active suffragette and made full use of her royal title to generate support for female enfranchisement.”
“She was a dedicated member of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) and the Women’s Tax Resistance League (WTRL). The plaque will mark the large house near Hampton Court Palace which was granted to Sophia and her sisters as a grace and favour apartment by Queen Victoria in 1896,” it notes.
Sophia has been commemorated with a postage stamp back in 208 as well as a small photo of her on the statue of Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square, London.
The campaign has been led by people like historian Peter Bance as well many organisations in the UK. The Sikh Museum Initiative has played its part by bringing to light the role of Sophia Duleep Singh through lectures, talks and supporting exhibitions. The Initiative was also the first to digitise the relics in 3d which belonged to Sophia Duleep Singh.
The actual unveiling is yet to be announced and the news will be welcomed by not only people in the UK but further afield as well.
Our work on Sophia Duleep Singh:
- Supporting the Suffragette Relay Flag with a Q and A on the life of Sophia at Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara, 2018
- Creating a digital resource on the life of Sophia at the Alice Hawkins and the Votes For Women exhibition, New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, 2018
- Hosting the lecture ‘Sikh Women in history: Sikh Empire to Suffragettes-Lecture by Priya Atwal as part of the Contemporary Sikh Art Exhibition, 2018
- ‘Legacy of Sophia Duleep Singh’ Q and A and the unveiling of 3d relics of Sophia at New Walk Museum, Leicester, February 2019
- ‘Sikh Empire Artefacts from Duleep Singh to Princess Sophia Duleep Singh’ lecture by Gurinder Singh Mann at Ancient House Museum, Thetford. 2019.
- ‘Revisiting the Sikh Empire’ with authors Peter Bance and Gurinder Singh Mann. Leicester Museum & Art Gallery , 2022
- Supporting exhibitions by the Essex and Cultural and Diversity project highlighting the role of Sophia Duleep Singh in Thetford Including the Festival of Norfolk and Punjab , 2019