Princess Sophia barged into my life: Anita Anand

The sad tale of Maharaja Duleep Singh is well known. The son of the one -eyed Sher-e-Punjab Ranjit Singh, whose kingdom extended from Tibet to Peshawar, and who was the custodian of the legendary Koh-i-noor diamond, Duleep Singh lived most of his life, a stranger to his proud legacy, the riches and kingdom that ought to have been his, his Sikh faith and even his mother. He died alone and bankrupt in Paris, just 55. Most of it was his fault as he managed, with his profligacy, promiscuity and indecisiveness, to alienate everyone - even his family. The background is essential to understand the life of Sophia, his youngest daughter who grew up to be one unlikely princess. Abandoned by her father as a child, she grew up on the uncertain mercies of the queen not knowing any world but the one of gay parties and high fashion of British high society. Her life changed when she came to India, and learnt, for the first time, the depths of British perfidy that had deprived her father of his kingdom and India of its freedom and self-respect. That disenchantment, shows former Anita Anand, BBC radio and TV presenter writing her debut novel, bred revolutionary sympathies in her with Indian nationalists and the women's suffragettes, who demanded the vote for women.

Will this be your first visit to the Jaipur Literature Festival?
This will be my second time at the festival, but my first as an author in my own right. Two years ago I came with my husband, the science writer Simon Singh and it was my pleasure to moderate a few sessions. I loved it then, and will love it even more this time.

How did you come to write this book - how did you chance upon the figure of Princess Sophia?
Well the honest truth is – she found me, barged her way into my life. In 2010, I was at home on maternity leave, taking time off from what had been a really busy time in my career. For a few months I swapped the hectic pace of the newsroom for an even more hectic pace set by my little son. While he slept, I read everything I could get my hands on. During one of those times, a photograph in a local magazine took my breath away. It showed a Suffragette selling newspapers outside Hampton Court. Her fierce eyes were clearly spoiling for a fight and she made a striking image, but that wasn't what saved her from the bin. Dressed like a well-heeled English Edwardian, something jarred. Although the picture was black and white I could tell her skin was as brown as mine. I became obsessed – there were many things to draw me in – she was a princess, she was Punjabi – as am I. Her name was Singh – (mine too by marriage). There were these intriguing shreds of information but nothing tangible. There were no books about her – which itself was perplexing, so I ended up pulling on threads and an entire avalanche came tumbling down.

How long did the research take - are the family's papers, etc preserved? Did you find people they knew?
The research took almost three years and I wrote the book in 12 months. Many of the Duleep Singh family papers are kept at the British Library as are Home Office papers and surveillance reports. The police records of Sophia's time with the Suffragettes are buried deep in the National Archives at Kew – it takes a while to dig them out. Also there are mentions of her activities in private papers and letters scattered across the country. I am lucky that most of her adventures happened in the UK so I had a hope of reaching these goldmine sources. I am lucky to have friends in Lahore who were able to chase leads there for me. But the real treasures were given to me by people who knew Sophia personally – who could tell me how she moved, what made her laugh. They also remembered her telling her own story in her own voice, from the maid who worked for her at Hampton Court to an evacuee child who was sent to live with the princess at the start of World War II. But the most intimate recollections came from Sophia's goddaughter Catherine, who radiates memories of her godmother. She was also the repository for memories of her mother, Ivy Lane, who had worked for the Princess for decades

Did Sophia ever, or any other of Duleep Singh's children, make any attempts to regain their lost empire or lay claim to their grandfather's legacy? What happened?
Although Sophia loved Punjab, she reconciled herself to the fact that the family would never take the throne again. Besides, she had formed close bonds with heroic Indian nationalists like Lala Lajpat Rai and Gopal Krishna Gokhale. She understood that a new India would have no time for old Maharajahs – and that the people must be allowed to govern for themselves – through democratic process. It was the same egalitarianism that drove her suffragette passion.
Her sister Bamba never understood that–and fought to the end to claim what she felt was rightfully hers. She wrote letters of challenge to the British government which they ignored. She wrote them to the new government of Independent Pakistan - which treated them with similar scorn. Bamba died in Lahore and is buried there. At the end of her life she styled herself"Queen of Punjab"–although sadly noted that she could not even get a seat on the bus in free Lahore.

From deposed princess who lived a gala London life to a political activist fighting alongside the working classes - it is an unprecedented transition for a woman of her times. What led to it? Was it, as you imply, her visit to India?
India absolutely changed her. She loved Lajpat Rai like a father – and when she learned of his arrest for sedition on the ship back to England in 1907, she exclaimed: "'Oh you wicked English how I long for your downfall. How I loathe you all. I am your deadly enemy from hereafter. Such injustice I cannot stand." However on her return she saw that not all Englishmen were enemies – British MP's were valiantly battling on Lajpat Rai's behalf in Parliament. Then she saw the suffragettes voice similar aims to those of her nationalist friends. They too wanted to alleviate the burdens of the most vulnerable in society. She joined them and took on their fight as her own.

There's been a spurt of books on Duleep Singh in recent years - have they succeeded in redeeming his reputation?
He was without a doubt a very flawed character – but the more we shine a light on his miserable experience, the more we understand why he ended up leading such a dissolute life. He saw murder at close quarters when his uncle was butchered in front of him. He went through the trauma of losing his mother – when she was dragged screaming from him by the British. He felt betrayed by his surrogate mother Queen Victoria, when he learned how he had been cheated as a child. He was exiled from the land he knew, from the people who loved him. I look at Duleep Singh and even though he made Sophia's life hell, I feel sorry for him. I can understand his damage. If it weren't for his abandonment of Sophia and the tragic consequences, she may never have discovered her inner steel.

Duleep Singh's life was undoubtedly tragic, but he hasn't been treated kindly by the Indian nationalists either - why is this so?
When the Maharajah's fell off their pedestals, the nationalists took their places. The Nehrus, Jinnahs et al became the new monarchs of new India. And Maharajahs like Duleep Singh gave them plenty to criticise. He rarely thought of anyone but himself – the polar opposite of Sophia who invariably put others needs before her own.