The Royal Rebel

Rebel, Princess, Suffragette: this is the incredible true story of the life of Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, a forgotten heroine of the early twentieth century.

Rebel, Princess, Suffragette: this is the incredible true story of the life of Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, a forgotten heroine of the early twentieth century.

Born in 1876, Princess Sophia Duleep Singh was the daughter of the last Sikh ruler of the Punjab, and goddaughter of Queen Victoria. After her father lost control of his empire and was exiled to England, Sophia had a privileged but troubled upbringing that left her unsure about where she belonged – in India or England. Sensitive to injustice, she became an suffragette and fought hard to win the vote for women. This is the extraordinary story of her life.

Reviews

"Princess Sophia Duleep Singh was a truly remarkable person and Bali Rai brings her wonderfully to life in this short, but action-packed biography … Everyone should know her story and I’d press this into the hands of all young people to inspire them with the sense that you can make a difference to the world, and to let them see through the eyes of this extraordinary woman" – LoveReading4Kids

"Fascinating … highlights a troubling period of British history in an accessible manner" – BookTrust, Book of the Day

"Takes a complex story and distils it down to the essentials while keeping the narrative clear, accessible and engaging at all times. I can see this being a tremendous hit with teachers looking for resources to use in the classroom that raise a wide range of pressing social issues because it tells its story provocatively but without being tediously didactic. Highly recommended" – The Letterpress Project

"So simply done and yet packs an almighty emotional punch … a wonderful addition to any classroom that is investigating the history of the suffragette movement and the history of Empire. This is a fantastic story about a woman who defied authority and achieved incredible things. It’s a wonderful achievement" – The Historian Next Door

About the author

Bali Rai was born in Leicester where he grew up in a multicultural community dreaming of playing football for Liverpool FC, being Bob Marley or becoming a writer. He writes the books he would have enjoyed as a teenager and his book Rani and Sukh is a set-text for GCSE English. His novel, Killing Honour, won the North East Teenage Book Award, and was described as “utterly compelling” by The Bookseller.