Podbit · Empire: World History
Frederick Duleep Singh, the antiquarian Norfolk bachelor who collected Jacobite art, was the one member of the first family who opened his home unconditionally to Pauline and Irene. He sent Ada money anonymously. When he died in 1926, the last restraint on Bamba's hostility disappeared.
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At 22:55 · chapter starts 21:55
The death of Duleep Singh left Pauline and Irene without support from virtually every quarter — except two. Frederick Duleep Singh, the antiquarian bachelor living quietly at Blow Norton in Norfolk and collecting Jacobite art, opened his home without condition to both girls [1] — Anita Anand "Frederick Duleep Singh, the antiquarian Norfolk bachelor who collected Jacobite art, was the one member of the first family who opened his …" 22:55 . Sophia, too, acted as ambassador, welcoming them to Faraday House and even ensuring a photograph of Sophia, Ada, Pauline, and Irene was taken together. William remarks that Freddie's generosity stands out as one of the few genuinely decent acts in this story — always trust an antiquarian, he says, especially a Norfolk one. Freddie sometimes sent money to Ada anonymously, and his home at Blow Norton had adjoining coach houses prepared so the sisters could come and go as they pleased.
Pauline Duleep Singh appeared on the cover of Country Life in 1911, styled as 'Princess Pauline' in a ball gown. But for those who knew her background, it was a sniggering title — the beautiful daughter of a disgraced Maharaja and a suspected brothel worker, being dressed up as respectable.
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