VYVEwan7971 at 16:17, 30 April 2026

2026-04-30T16:17:17Z

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{{Short description|Anglo-Indian princess}}
{{Infobox royalty
| image = Wedding-photograph of Princess Irene Duleep Singh, published in The Sketch (Wednesday, 30 March 1910) (cropped).png
| caption = Wedding-photograph of Princess Irene Duleep Singh, published in ''The Sketch'' (Wednesday, 30 March 1910)
| birth_date = 25 October 1889
| birth_place = Paris, France
| death_date = 8 October 1926
| death_place = Monte Carlo, Monaco
| full name = Princess Ada Irene Helen Benyl Duleep Singh
}}
'''Irene Duleep Singh''' (25 October 1889 – 8 October 1926) was an [[Anglo-Indian people|Anglo-Indian]] princess and painter who was the daughter of [[Duleep Singh|Maharaja Duleep Singh]] and his second wife, Ada Wetherill, an [[English people|Englishwoman]]. Compared to her more famous half-sisters from Duleep Singh's first marriage, comparatively little is known about Princess Irene and her sister Pauline. She suffered from mental-illness and lost her life to suicide. After her death, her estate was contested between her surviving sister Pauline and her half-sister Bamba, which permanently damaged relations between them.

== Biography ==
[[File:Birth record for Princess Irene Duleep Singh, Paris, France, 27 October 1889.jpg|thumb|Birth record for Princess Irene Duleep Singh, Paris, France, 27 October 1889.]]
She was born on 25 October 1889 in Paris, France to parents Maharaja Duleep Singh and Ada Douglas-Wetherill.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Bance |first=Peter |date=2021 |title=Princess Pauline & Princess Irene Duleep Singh |url=https://duleepsingh.com/princess-pauline-princess-irene/ |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221217110903/https://duleepsingh.com/princess-pauline-princess-irene/ |archive-date=17 December 2022 |access-date=20 March 2026 |website=Duleep Singh}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Princess Pauline & Princess Irene Duleep Singh |url=https://www.maharajaranjitsingh.com/princess_pauline_princess_irene_duleep_singh.html |access-date=20 March 2026 |website=Maharaja Ranjit Singh}}</ref> She was the second daughter born to the couple.<ref name=":0" /> On 15 March 1910, she married a Frenchman named Pierre Marie Villament. She suffered from mental illness, with a Nice correspondent of the ''Petit Pariser'' reporting that she was a [[Neurasthenia|neurasthenic]].<ref name=":0" /> In 1924, she received "treatment" (at the time, treatment for her disorder involved electric-shock therapy<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Anand |first=Anita |title=Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary |date=Jan 15, 2015 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=9781408835463 |pages=350–353}}</ref>) for her mental illness in England at nursing-home after admitting herself but moved back to Paris after her care there.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /> After coming back to Paris, she moved into an apartment on [[Avenue Hoche]] and she began painting and started socializing.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /> However, she was far away from her family and the Parisian environment reminded her of her difficult childhood years, which made her mental state worsen again.<ref name=":3" />

=== Divorce and suicide ===
In August 1925, she and her husband separated, which resulted in her attempting to end her life by jumping out of a window, which injured her.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /> This suicide attempt was published in the French press, drawing negative attention to her, worsened her state, becoming reclusive and estranged even from her full-sister Pauline.<ref name=":3" /> According to Anita Anand, Irene had suffered from depression, anxiety, and mood-swings her entire life (with epileptic fits being recorded in 1915) and her separation from her husband is what pushed her over the edge.<ref name=":3" /> Irene was reported to have scratched at herself to get the "black blood" out and suffered from delusions, such as believing she had two children who had been stolen from her, or that she was turning into a wild animal.<ref name=":3" /> She also starved herself, removed her fingernails, and pulled-out her hair.<ref name=":3" /> In August 1926, her half-brother Prince Frederick Duleep Singh died, which affected her and put her in a state of mourning. On 8 October 1926, her body was discovered in Monte Carlo, Monaco by a fisherman in the waters off the Riviera after she died by suicide by drowning. A suicide-note was found, where she stated that she was "tired of life".<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |url=https://essexcdp.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/DuleepSInghTrail.pdf |title=East of England Heritage Trail: The Maharajah Duleep Singh Family |publisher=Essex Cultural Diversity Project |pages=19 |chapter=The Children - Princess Irene}}</ref><ref name=":3" />
{{Blockquote|text=Nobody will ever hear of me again, as I am going to commit suicide this afternoon... I am home-less... my nerves have prevented me continuing my studies, but I have grasped my object... I have been staying a week at Monte Carlo but here I only play the fool and lose my pocket-money... Please forgive me for troubling you in such troublesome times, but it is the last time.|author=Irene Duleep Singh|title=final letter to her friend and lawyer Lancelot Smith|source=published in 'Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary' (Anita Anand, 2015, page 351)}}
[[File:Obituary of Princess Irene Duleep Singh, published in the Daily Mirror (Friday, 15 October 1926).jpg|thumb|Obituary of Princess Irene Duleep Singh, published in the ''Daily Mirror'' (Friday, 15 October 1926)]]
Irene was buried at [[Monaco Cemetery]].

== Legal dispute over her inheritance ==
After her death, her inheritance (estate worth over £20,000–30,000) was contested between her surviving sister Pauline and her half-sister Bamba, which permanently strained their relations there-after.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=23 January 2015 |title=The Fate of Princess Pauline Duleep Singh Finally Uncovered |url=https://www.sikhchic.com/history/the_fate_of_princess_pauline_duleep_singh_finally_uncovered |access-date=20 March 2026 |website=[[Sikhchic.com|sikhchic]]}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> Originally, Irene had bequeathed her inheritance to her sister, Pauline. However, one day prior to her suicide she had instead gotten a new will made that gave all her inheritance to a charity named Dr Barnardo's Home for Poor and Unwanted Children. Pauline contested the new will on the basis of her sister not having a sound state of mind at the time. However, for unknown reasons, Princess Bamba also contested the will and claimed to be its true beneficiary and tried to destroy the reputation of her half-sister Pauline, however Catherine and Sophia did not join her legal battle and separated themselves from the affair. Bamba hired Sir Ellis Hume-Williams as a lawyer and had private medical-records of the late Irene revealed.<ref name=":3" /> The court ruled entirely in-favour of Irene's surviving sister Pauline and Bamba was ordered to pay the £3,600 legal fees for both the plaintiff and defendant.<ref name=":3" /> However, Bamba never paid the cost. The relationship between Pauline and her half-sisters never recovered after the legal case and she moved to France.<ref name=":3" />

== Ancestry ==
{{ahnentafel|1. '''Princess Irene Duleep Singh'''|2. [[Duleep Singh]]|3. Ada Douglas-Wetherill|4. [[Ranjit Singh]]|5. [[Jind Kaur]]|||8. [[Maha Singh]]|9. [[Raj Kaur]]|10. Manna Singh|collapsed=yes|align=center|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;|16=[[Charat Singh]]|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;|boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;|32=[[Naudh Singh]]|64=[[Budha Singh]]}}

== References ==
<references />
[[Category:1889 births]]
[[Category:1926 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century painters]]
[[Category:Anglo-Indian people]]
[[Category:Suicides in Monaco]]
[[Category:Women painters]]
[[Category:French people of Indian descent]]
[[Category:People from Paris]]
[[Category:People from Monte Carlo]]
[[Category:Punjabi people]]
[[Category:Sikhs]]

Irene Duleep Singh - Revision history

VYVEwan7971 at 16:17, 30 April 2026