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Page 3 of 3
MAHARAJAS AT THE
LAFAYETTE STUDIO
(cntd)
by
Kavita Devgun
The Royal & the Regal Ladies
Princess Bamba Sophia
Jindan & Princess Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh
- daughters of Duleep Singh, the last Maharaja of Punjab.
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Princess Bamba Sophia Jindan [1869-1957] and Princess
Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh [1871-1942], the older daughters of
Duleep Singh, the last Maharaja of Punjab, who signed over the
ownership of the Kohinoor diamond to the British.
The Princesses were born to Duleep Singh’s first wife,
Maharani Bamba [daughter of a German banker and a Coptic Christian
slave from Abyssinia]. Duleep Singh spent most of his life in
England. He later became anathema to the British by plotting
against their imperial interests.
Princess Bamba Sophia died in Lahore, Pakistan, and claimed
to be the real ruler of Punjab. Princess Catherine died unmarried
and was so devoted to her German governess Fraulein Lina Schafer,
that in her will she stated that one quarter of her ashes were to
be buried as near as possible to Schafer’s grave.
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Rani Amrit Kaur Sahib of Mandi
Rani
Amrit Kaur Sahib of Mandi was the only daughter of Maharaja Sir
Jagatjit Singh Bahadur of Kapurthala, by his third wife, Rani Prem
Kaur alias Anita Delgado - a ‘Flamenco dancer’ and dancing
associate of Mata Hari, the spy. This surprising match and the ensuing
wedding festivities in Spain gave rise to an expression still used to
describe those seen to hitch their star towards climbing the social
ladder - `as if they are getting married to a maharaja’.
During her visit to London, King George V and Queen Mary
received the Rani before the third court of the Season on June 26,
1924. The Rani’s conspicuous lack of jewels was in stark contrast to
her father who spent up to a quarter of his revenue annually buying
swags of pearls and emeralds for himself. |
A rare picture of Lady Meherbai Tata, wife of Sir
Dorabji Jamsetji Tata.
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 A
rare photograph of Lady Meherbai Tata who was married in 1898 to Sir
Dorabi Jamsetji Tata, chairman of Tata Sons Ltd. and the Tata
Companies Ltd. She was summoned to court in June 1924 and got
herself photographed in her adaptation of the court dress. After she
died of leukemia in 1932 her husband set up two trusts in her
name---the Lady Meherbai Tata Education Trust for enabling women
graduates to study social work abroad and the Lady Tata Memorial
Trust which promoted research on blood related diseases.
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