Free shipping on orders over £120. Standard shipping £3.95 SHOP NOW!

<< RETURN TO ALL BLOGS

The Life of a Suffragette, Princess and Global Activist

At Indigowares, we’ve always loved remarkable stories. We sew stories into each piece we make so that you can wear them every time you get cosy in a kantha jacket or pull on a pair of organic trousers.

Our clothes have meaning. They tell stories of their makers. They tell your story. And sometimes, they carry echoes of stories from much further back. Which brings me today to suffragette Princess Sophia Duleep Singh.

Princess Sophia Duleep Singh

As I write this we’ll be setting off to India in a few days to source new textiles and create new patterns, see friends and collaborators, and work with artisans that make Indigowares possible in person. This trip has me thinking about the heart of Indigowares as a female founded and run business, with roots as a small UK business that designs to amplify and celebrate the skill of our makers in Jaipur, Uttarakhand, and across India.

 

With global stories on the mind, I wanted to share one that inspires me: Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, a woman whose life was stitched across continents and contradictions. Born into royalty, raised in Britain, and driven by a fierce sense of justice, she used what she had, including her voice, her position, and her persistence  to fight for equality. Her story speaks to the power of purpose and the beauty of standing for something.

An early Portrait of Princess Sophia Duleep Singh (1890s)

Princess Sophia Duleep Singh

Sophia’s early years were spent in England, when she was part of Britain’s royal social circle before her activist years began.

 

 

Before building her life as a well known Suffragette, Princess Sophia Duleep Singh was the daughter of the deposed Maharajah Duleep Singh and the goddaughter of Queen Victoria.

 

Her early years were spent in the splendour of Elveden Hall, her father’s aristocratic Suffolk estate with an interior that recalled a fragment of India in England. But the grandeur collapsed into tragedy: her father’s failed attempt to return to India led to exile and financial ruin, her mother died soon after, and by her teens Sophia had lost both parents and her beloved younger brother, leaving her to rebuild her life under the shadow of displacement and loss.

Becoming an Activist (1900s)

Suffragette movement

After these years marked by loss and upheaval, Sophia eventually found stability at Hampton Court Palace, where Queen Victoria granted her a grace-and-favour residence. Independent and financially secure, she threw herself into a vibrant life of sport, travel, and society. Yet beneath the privilege, she carried an acute awareness of injustice.

 

Her travels to India rekindled a deep connection to her heritage and exposed her to the inequalities of empire. Those experiences, paired with her compassion and fierce sense of fairness, set the stage for her transformation from aristocrat to activist, and ultimately, one of Britain’s most remarkable suffragettes.

 

In the image above, Sophia can be seen outside Hampton Court Palace, standing defiantly as she sells copies of The Suffragette newspaper.

Tax Resistance and the Black Friday Protests, London 1910

Suffragette movement

Princess Sophia Duleep Singh became a leading member of the Women’s Tax Resistance League (WTRL), which stood by the principle of “No Vote, No Tax.” Her stance on taxation without representation captured her courage and conviction: “When the women of England are enfranchised and the state acknowledges me as a citizen, I shall, of course, pay my share willingly towards its upkeep.”

 

On 18 November 1910, during the infamous Black Friday suffragette protest, more than 300 women marched from Caxton Hall to Parliament Square to demand a meeting with the Prime Minister. They were met with brutal violence from police, who physically and sexually assaulted protestors. Amid the chaos, Sophia Duleep Singh stood her ground, rescuing another woman from an officer’s attack and later pursuing formal complaints against the perpetrators.

Sophia Duleep Singh DURING THE WORLD WARS

World War

When the First World War began in 1914, key organisations of the the suffragette movement temporarily stopped their activity, leaving Sophia Duleep Singh to focus on the national crisis at hand. She joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) as a nurse, working long shifts at Isleworth Hospital. It amounted to more than 1,500 hours of unpaid service caring for wounded soldiers.

 

Her compassion extended to Indian troops stationed in Britain. At Brighton Pavilion and other hospitals, soldiers would recognise Sophia with surprise when she was tending to them in person. She offered them comfort, small gifts, and a sense of connection. She also threw herself into wartime fundraising. In 1916, she joined Indian women in London to raise money for the Red Cross, selling Indian flags at Dewar House. Two years later, as Honourary Secretary of the YMCA War Emergency Committee, she helped organise “India Day”, a nationwide appeal that funded 50,000 huts for Indian soldiers.

 

When the Second World War began, Princess Sophia Duleep Singh and her sister Catherine left London for the countryside, settling side by side in Buckinghamshire. She joined Catherine in providing refuge to Jewish families fleeing persecution. Among them were the violinist Alexander Poliarnoff and the Chopin family, who found safety for several months at Faraday House. 

Sophia Duleep Singh's legacy

Princess Sophia Duleep Singh passed away peacefully in her sleep on 22 August 1948, leaving behind a life shaped by courage, conviction, and compassion.

 

Though she never sought the spotlight, Sophia’s royal lineage gave the suffrage movement a visibility it might otherwise have lacked. Her actions, from refusing to pay taxes to standing her ground on Black Friday, helped redefine what defiance could look like in a woman of her time.

share
Facebook-f Twitter Instagram Linkedin-in

related stories