A new blue plaque has been unveiled in memory of a courageous Indian princess with known links to Suffolk and Norfolk who fought for women's rights. 

Princess Sophia Duleep Singh was the daughter of the last ruler of the Sikh empire and goddaughter to Queen Victoria. 

The Duleep Singh family left a lasting legacy in Norfolk and Suffolk after moving to England in the 1840s. 

Thetford & Brandon Times: Princess Sophia Duleep Singh. Picture: Ancient HousePrincess Sophia Duleep Singh. Picture: Ancient House (Image: Norfolk Museums Service (Ancient House))

The family bought the Elvedon Estate, near Thetford, and for the next century the family continued to live in the region, including at Old Buckenham, Hockwold, Blo’ Norton, Breckles, and Walcott.

At a ceremony at the princess's former London home of Faraday House, Hampton Court, a blue plaque has been put up in her honour.

Thetford & Brandon Times: BBC journalist and historian Anita Anand speaking at the unveiling. BBC journalist and historian Anita Anand speaking at the unveiling. (Image: English Heritage via PA)

Anita Anand, author of Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary, told the PA news agency: “We owe Sophia such a debt of gratitude because without her courage and the courage of women like her you can’t take it for granted that we would have the right to vote in this country.

“She was one of those bloody-minded women who never do what they are supposed to do.

"Women’s history falls through the cracks and women of colour plummet through them.

“Her fortitude is something that should not be forgotten, and it is only right that we should see it in a plaque so that young girls when they walk past might ask, ‘who was she?’.”

Thetford & Brandon Times: The unveiling of a blue plaque honouring Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, a suffragette Indian princess at her former London home.The unveiling of a blue plaque honouring Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, a suffragette Indian princess at her former London home. (Image: English Heritage via PA)

Thetford & Brandon Times: Princess Sophia Duleep Singh's blue plaque at her apartment in London.Princess Sophia Duleep Singh's blue plaque at her apartment in London. (Image: PA)

Attending the ceremony was Bend it Like Beckham director Gurinder Chadha, actress Meera Syal, Professor Helen Pankhurst and Lord Singh.

The princess was a member of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) and was influential in the group's 'Black Friday' movement which saw members of the suffragette movement take to Parliament on November 18, 1910 as part of their campaign for Votes for Women.

The demonstration descended into violence when the prime minister refused to see the suffragettes, and police assaulted the women who refused to leave.

Thetford & Brandon Times: A stamp featuring Sophia Duleep Singh.A stamp featuring Sophia Duleep Singh. (Image: ROYAL MAIL)

Alongside Dr Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and the group's leader Emmeline Pankhurst, Princess Sophia resisted the police during the fighting, even rescuing one woman from an officer.

She would sell copies of The Suffragette newspaper at her pitch outside Hampton Court Palace, and once threw a suffragette poster reading “Give women the vote!” at Herbert Asquith’s car at the state opening of Parliament in 1911.

Princess Sophia lived in Faraday House, a grace and favour apartment granted to her by Victoria in 1896, with her sisters Bamba and Catherine.

Thetford & Brandon Times: Photograph of Sophia Duleep Singh (right) with Prince Albert Edward, Princess Catherine and friends, 1889.Photograph of Sophia Duleep Singh (right) with Prince Albert Edward, Princess Catherine and friends, 1889. (Image: Norfolk Museums Service/ Ancient House)

She was also a member of the Women’s Tax Reform League (WTRL), a movement which refused to pay various taxes, insurances and licence fees under the motto “No Vote , No Tax”,

The princess was summoned to court several times and fined for abstaining from personal licences on jewellery, dogs and a carriage.

Beyond her campaigning for women’s enfranchisement, she also supported the Indian Women’s Education Association in London.

She volunteered during both world wars, nursing Indian soldiers in in the First World War and housing evacuees in the Second World War.

Thetford & Brandon Times: Sophia in action in 1913.Sophia in action in 1913.

Her story has been documented in the form of a children's book. 

The Ancient House Museum in Thetford, founded by Prince Fredrick Singh, also hopes to build on its display by securing further grant funding.

At her death in 1948 she was outlived by her goddaughter, Drovna, whom she made solemnly promise to always vote as an adult.

A film partly based on her life, Lioness, premiered at Cannes Film Festival this week.