Quote · Empire: World History
372. The First British Indians: The Sisters Rejected By Queen Victoria (Ep 4)
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Irene's Marriage and Mental Breakdown
At 40:52 · chapter starts 36:00
Irene, the more fragile of the two second-family sisters, sought her own family early: she married wealthy Frenchman Pierre Vilmont at a Paris society wedding on 15 March 1910, photographed by elite society photographers Ellison and Whalery in full bridal regalia [1] — Anita Anand "Irene Duleep Singh began having epileptic fits by 1915 and spent time in nursing homes being treated for 'neurasthenia' — the Victorian cat…" 36:45 . But happiness proved elusive. Records show epileptic fits as early as 1915, and within a decade she was in nursing homes being treated for neurasthenia — the Edwardian catch-all for severe depression and anxiety, treated at the time with electroshock therapy. William notes that his own grandfather received the same treatment and was scarred by it for life. When Irene moved back to Paris, she was returning to the city where her father had died, where her mother had ignored her, where her worst memories were rooted. She painted, she read, she kept a childhood music scorebook — she fought hard. But as Anita says: there just weren't the tools.
Princess Irene married Frenchman Pierre Vilmont in a society wedding in Paris in March 1910, but records show she was suffering epileptic fits as early as 1915 and her mental health deteriorated rapidly.
Irene Duleep Singh began having epileptic fits by 1915 and spent time in nursing homes being treated for 'neurasthenia' — the Victorian catch-all for depression and anxiety — including electroshock therapy. Her husband eventually left her. She moved back to Paris, the city of her worst memories, and started breaking apart.
Irene Duleep Singh was subjected to electroshock therapy for her 'neurasthenia', a brutal Edwardian-era treatment that William Dalrymple noted had scarred his own grandfather for life.
