In London, an exhibition reveals the fascinating lives of the Duleep Singh princesses
· Scroll
“They were different from everyone else.”
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That’s how Peter Barrall remembers the Anglo-Indian princesses Sophia and Bamba when they visited Walnut Tree Cottage in Blo’ Norton, a tiny village in the sandy heathlands of Norfolk.
It was 1939. After the outbreak of World War II, Barrall – then six – had been evacuated from his school in London to the estate owned by the daughters of Duleep Singh, the last ruler of the Sikh empire and last Indian owner of the Koh-i-Noor diamond.
Barrall, now 92, remembers spotting Sophia and Bamba on their occasional visits to the property. Sophia, often wearing a sari, was friendly. Bamba was more imperious.
He never saw their elusive middle sister, Catherine, who spent much of her adult life in Germany and therefore may have had less affection for East Anglia, where all three princesses grew up.
Barrall had been coached by the housekeeper never to approach the women first. But if one of them spoke to him, he was to say, “Good morning, your highness.”
A short video of Barrall’s recollections shatters the proverbial glass case behind which history is typically displayed. It is among the many charms of a new exhibition, “The Last Princesses of the Punjab”, in London’s Kensington Palace, where Queen Victoria was...