Few historical figures have sat at such a rich juncture between power, empire and progress than this East London princess
Will Hosie celebrates the legacy of Princess Sophia Duleep Singh who campaigned strongly for women's independence.
'Independent taxation, which took effect on April 6, 1990, offers all married women the opportunity to enjoy independence and privacy in their own tax affairs,’ proffered Margaret Thatcher’s business secretary Peter Lilley in Parliament that July, announcing the long-awaited policy that is now considered a cornerstone of women’s suffrage.
Eighty years before, Sophia Duleep Singh, one of the original movement’s architects, was marching to Westminster as part of the Women’s Tax Resistance League (WTRL, slogan: ‘No vote, no tax’). The march on November 18, 1910, of some 300 Suffragettes, frustrated by news of an imminent General Election that would scupper the bill to allow women the vote, became known as Black Friday for its police violence.
As the third daughter of Sir Duleep Singh, the last maharaja of the Sikh Empire, and Bamba Müller, the illegitimate child of a German merchant banker and his Abyssinian mistress, few historical figures have sat at such a rich and fascinating juncture between power, empire and progress.
Princess Sophia was Queen Victoria's goddaughter, and was granted a grace-and-favour residence on the Hampton Court estate by her majesty.
Princess Sophia died in 1948, 42 years before her dream of women’s financial independence was finally enshrined into law.
The Princess was born in west London in 1876 and spent most of her childhood at Elveden Hall in Suffolk. Her father had called Britain home from the age of 15, five years after he was deposed from the Sikh Empire and the East India Company seized control of Punjab. Queen Victoria took a shine to the young maharaja and, after he abandoned his family in 1886 and Müller died of renal failure a year later, she gave Princess Sophia, her goddaughter, a grace-and-favour residence on the Hampton Court estate.
Thirteen years later, the Princess would join the WTRL and campaign for her right to vote, causing a scandal by selling copies of The Suffragette newspaper outside the former royal residence she called home. Her move into activism was prompted by a trip to India in 1907, where she became disillusioned with the British Raj after witnessing extreme poverty. This pushed her to challenge the establishment and, by 1911, one of her diamond rings had been impounded by bailiffs as recourse for non-payment of tax. It was later bought back at auction and returned by a fellow member of the League.
Princess Sophia died in 1948, 42 years before her dream of women’s financial independence was finally enshrined into law. An exhibition focused on her life, and her sisters Catherine and Bamba, ‘The Last Princesses of Punjab’, runs at Kensington Palace until November 8. It features her spoilt 1911 census record, on which she wrote ‘No Vote, No Census’.
Away from the campaigning, during the Second World War, Princess Sophia joined the Voluntary Auxiliary Detachment Service as a nurse. She was also a keen rider, hockey player, cyclist and dog breeder and trainer, taking her Pomeranian, Jo, on her tour of India in 1906. Borzois were her second favourite dogs.
This feature originally appeared in the May 27, 2026, issue of Country Life. Click here for more information on how to subscribe.
