Princess Limbin Hteiktin Ma Lat ( my, ထိပ်တင်မလတ်; 13 October 1894 – 1965), also Tin Tin Ma Lat, was a princess of Burma and one of the senior members of the Royal House of Konbaung.

Biography

Hteiktin Ma Lat was born on 13 October 1894 in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. She was the second daughter of Limbin Mintha and his consort Kin Me (Yenatha Khin Khin Gyi), the princess of Limbin. She was the great-granddaughter of King Tharrawaddy and granddaughter of Prince Kanaung. She studied at Girl's High School in Allahabad, India; she was well-educated and spoke English fluently.

Maurice Collis Maurice Stewart Collis (10 January 1889 – 12 January 1973) was an administrator in Burma (Myanmar) when it was part of the British Empire, and afterwards a writer on Southeast Asia, China and other historical subjects. Life He was born in Du ...

, a colonial judge and author, wrote in his 1938 book ''

Trials in Burma {{Unreferenced, date=March 2009 ''Trials in Burma'' is a memoir by Maurice Collis, an English author of Irish origin who served in Burma in the Indian Civil Service under the British Empire written in 1937 describing events in 1929-30. After posti ...

'' of receiving a call from Ma Lat in 1928: "She sat on the sofa, a beautiful woman, in a blue silk skirt and a jacket of white lawn, her complexion corn-coloured, her eyes large and brilliant, and with exquisite hands."

Crown Prince Wilhelm Wilhelm, German Crown Prince, Crown Prince of Prussia (Friedrich Wilhelm Victor August Ernst; 6 May 1882 – 20 July 1951) was the eldest child of the last ''Kaiser'', the German Emperor, Wilhelm II, and his consort Augusta Victoria of Schles ...

, after meeting her at the Allahabad Club, described her as the most "striking woman" he had met during his Far Eastern tour.

Queen consort designate of Sikkim

Prince

Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal ( Sikkimese: ; Wylie: ''srid skyong sprul sku rnam rgyal'') (1879–5 December 1914) was the ruling Maharaja and Chogyal of Sikkim for a brief period in 1914, from 10 February to 5 December. Biography He was the se ...

, son of the King of

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...

, and Ma Lat began a regular correspondence. When Prince Limbin and his family returned to Burma (to live in Rangoon), Sidkeong visited them there in 1912. By then he and the princess had agreed to marry, the British having secured Limbin's approval. The wedding was initially set for 1913 but then delayed because of Sidkeong's father's deteriorating health. In February 1914 the old king died, Sidkeong became king, and his wedding to Ma Lat was set for 10 February 1915. The two exchanged many letters expressing their love for one another and their glad anticipation of a life together. In December 1914, Sidkeong was found dead in his bedroom, apparently of heart failure, aged 35, in what the British described as "mysterious circumstances".

Later life

On 19 October 1921, Ma Lat married Herbert Bellamy, a

horse breeder Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in ...

and bookmaker of

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and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. He was also a manager at

Maymyo Pyin Oo Lwin or Pyin U Lwin (, ; Shan: ), formerly and colloquially referred to as Maymyo (), is a scenic hill town in the Mandalay Region, Myanmar, some east of Mandalay, and at an elevation of . The town was estimated to have a population of ...

Racecourse A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also use ...

and an orchid collector. She gave birth to their only daughter, Yadana Nat-Mei, in 1932.

Gallery

File:Princess Hteiktin Ma Lat.jpg, Young Hteiktin Ma Lat File:Limbin Family.jpg, Hteiktin Ma Gyi, Yadana Nat-Mei and Hteiktin Ma Lat File:Hteiktin Ma Lat and Her husband Herbert Bellamy.jpg, Hteiktin Ma Lat with her husband File:Hteiktin Ma Lat and her child Yadana Nat-Mei.jpg, Hteiktin Ma Lat and her child Yadana Nat-Mei File:Princess Ma Lat and her daughter.jpg, Princess Ma Lat and her daughter

References

External links

The British Library Board : A Royal Proposal of Marriage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hteiktin Ma Lat Konbaung dynasty 1894 births 1965 deaths People from Kolkata