Maharajah Duleep Singh lived in Thetford, he was good friends with Queen Victoria and the owner of the world’s largest diamond.
Overview
Thetford has a close connection with Duleep Singh, the last Maharajah of the Punjab, and the first Sikh to settle in Britain. Duleep Singh’s second son, Frederick, was one of Thetford’s most prominent benefactors, giving the town Ancient House as well as his personal collections.
People
Duleep Singh
Duleep Singh was the last Maharajah of the Punjab, and became the first Sikh to settle in Britain at the age of eleven.
He spent the first years of his life in the Punjab, but after the defeat of the Sikh army in 1847 the young prince was taken
in guardianship by the British. In 1849 Britain annexed the Punjab, ostensibly in the name of Duleep Singh. However,
Duleep gave up his sovereign rights and his property to the British, including the famous diamond known as the KohiNoor, which is now part of the British Crown Jewels.
Duleep came to live in Britain, and became a favourite of Queen Victoria and the aristocratic elite. In 1863 he purchased the estate of Elveden in Suffolk, and close to Thetford, where he pursued the leisured life of an English country gentleman, including shooting and hunting over the 17,000 acre estate. The Prince of Wales attended hunting parties at Elveden. The house itself was enlarged during the 1860s, including many alterations in a palatial Moghul style.
Duleep lived at Elveden with his first wife, Bamba Muller, and their six children, three girls and three boys, including
Prince Frederick who was born in 1868.
Duleep’s relations with the British government became strained in the 1880s, particularly over the issue of his
pension. He announced his intention of returning to India, and left Elveden to live in Paris and, later, in Russia. He
hoped that foreign governments would lend him military support to regain control of the Punjab region. In Paris, after
the death of his first wife, Duleep married his second wife, Ada, a former chambermaid and his mistress.
In 1890 Duleep suffered a stroke which left him paralysed. He asked to visit Queen Victoria, and was granted a royal
pardon. In 1893 he returned to England for the last time, and died in October 1893. Prince Frederick buried his father
at Elveden, along with his first wife and their youngest son. A 74cm high marble bust of Duleep Singh by sculptor John
Gibson sold at auction for £1.7million in 2007, having been expected to fetch around £30,000.
Prince Frederick
Frederick was Duleep Singh’s second son, and the godson of Queen Victoria. After his education at Eton and Cambridge he served in the army and fought in World War One. He was particularly interested in the history and archaeology of Norfolk and wrote several articles on the subject.
He also collected paintings and other objects of local interest. He lived at Old Buckenham Hall, and later bought the moated manor house at Blo Norton in south Norfolk.
Frederick was one of Thetford’s most prominent benefactors. In 1921 he purchased the Ancient House in White Hart Street and gave it to the town to be turned into a museum. After his death, he left Thetford his collection of portraits, and his books relating to East Anglia.
Places
Elveden Hall, Suffolk
The church and churchyard, where Duleep Singh is buried, is publicly accessible.
Statue of Duleep Singh, Thetford
Bronze statue unveiled in 1998.
Ancient House Museum, Thetford
Donated to the town by Prince Frederick.