UK Celebrates Women’s Right To Vote With Stamp Of Indian Princess

Lost in the worn out pages of history for almost 70 years, an Indian Princess was honoured by the Royal Mail, the UK’s legendary and most trusted letters and couriers company, to mark the centenary of the suffrage movement.

While Royal Mail is releasing eight special stamps to honour the movement only one woman merits a stamp to herself – Princess Sophia Alexandra Duleep Singh. Born to Maharaja Duleep Singh, the last ruler of the Sikh empire in Punjab and Maharani Bamba Muller, Sophia devoted her life to activism and championing for women’s rights.

Sophia’s father was made to give up his throne to the British Empire owing to political manoeuvring and was exiled to England. Said to have been Queen Victoria’s “favourite son”, they lived in Hampton Court in Faraday House given by Queen Victoria as a grace and favour.

As per reports, the stamp features an original image of Sophia “selling copies of the WSPU newspaper The Suffragette in April 1913. A member of the Women’s Tax Resistance League, (whose official motto was ‘No Taxation Without Representation’), the princess appeared in court on several occasions after refusing to pay taxes.” This campaign took place a decade before the right to vote was passed with the 1918 Representation of the People Act. Suffragettes were members of women’s organizations in the late 19th century and early 20th century which advocated the extension of the right to vote in public elections to women. The princess was also a part of Women’s Social and Political Union.

Forgotten for years until BBC journalist Anita Anand came across the image in a magazine and decided to pursue the story further by writing a book titled Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary.

Dawn Butler, UK’s first elected female African-Caribbean Government Minister, also posted a picture of hers with the stamp on Twitter and wrote alongside,” I was honoured to mark the centenary of some women gaining the right to vote with @RoyalMail of their issuing of special stamps to mark the #100years. This stamp is of Sophia Duleep Singh, a prominent Asian suffragette #TheNextSteps #Votes100.”

These heritage stamps will be released on February 15 to mark 100 years since women were allowed to vote in the UK

Image courtesy of Royal Mail.