Indira Devi Of Kapurthala
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Indira Devi of Kapurthala (26 February 1912 – 1 September 1979), affectionately known as the Radio Princess, was an Indian socialite and princess, the eldest grandchild of Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of the princely state of
Kapurthala Kapurthala is a city in Punjab state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Kapurthala District. It was the capital of the Kapurthala State, a princely state in British India. The aesthetic mix of the city with its prominent buil ...
in
Punjab, British India Punjab was a province of British India. Most of the Punjab region was annexed by the East India Company in 2 April 1849, and declared a province of British Rule, it was one of the last areas of the Indian subcontinent to fall under British ...
. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
she was recruited as a political correspondent to George Orwell, for the India team of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. There she became a regular broadcaster of the programme ''The Debate Continues'' from the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
, and '' Hello Punjab'', a programme in Hindustani for the British Indian Army. With Narayana Menon she hosted the Indian Service musical programmes. At the age of 23, Devi had secretly travelled to London to become an actress, telling only her two sisters, and enrolled at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...
. For a brief period, she worked at
London Films London Films Productions is a British film and television production company founded in 1932 by Alexander Korda and from 1936 based at Denham Film Studios in Buckinghamshire, near London. The company's productions included ''The Private Life o ...
with
Alexander Korda Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; hu, Korda Sándor; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)St John Ambulance St John Ambulance is the name of a number of affiliated organisations in different countries which teach and provide first aid and emergency medical services, and are primarily staffed by volunteers. The associations are overseen by the internat ...
examinations and qualified in first aid. She subsequently transported casualties during
the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...
. In 1943, she was appointed permanently within the BBC Radio's Overseas Service Division, and in 1951, she reported on the 30th anniversary of the 1921 Northern Ireland general election. Following a road trip to India in 1958, she narrated a film by the explorer Count Vitold de Golish, ''Twilight of the Maharajahs'', for the BBC in their ''Adventure'' series. It was delivered alongside her own life, having discovered old film footage after revisiting her former palace in India. She continued to work for the BBC until 1968, and spent her last years in Ibiza, Spain, where she managed a bar.


Early life and education

Indira Devi was born in
Kapurthala Kapurthala is a city in Punjab state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Kapurthala District. It was the capital of the Kapurthala State, a princely state in British India. The aesthetic mix of the city with its prominent buil ...
on 26 February 1912, to the Sikh prince Paramjit Singh and his Hindu
Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...
wife
Brinda Devi Brinda Devi, Crown Princess of Kapurthala (died 25 July 1962), was an Indian royal and a socialite, the wife of Crown Prince Paramjit Singh of Kapurthala (eldest son of Jagatjit Singh, Maharaja Jagatjit Singh I of Kapurthala State, Kapurthala in P ...
. She was the eldest of their three daughters and the eldest grandchild of Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of the princely state of
Kapurthala Kapurthala is a city in Punjab state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Kapurthala District. It was the capital of the Kapurthala State, a princely state in British India. The aesthetic mix of the city with its prominent buil ...
in Punjab,
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 ...
. In infancy, she failed to grow until fed on goat's milk, and in 1919, she caught measles along with her sisters. Her mother later recalled that Devi was close to being spoilt and was sent to board at
Queen Mary College , mottoeng = With united powers , established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College , type = Public researc ...
, Lahore. There, she studied politics, and decided she would like to be an actress. In 1934, she was noted to "have done exceptionally well" as an owner of dogs at the Tail-Waggers Club, and she was known to feel more comfortable in her
jodhpurs Jodhpurs, in their modern form, are tight-fitting trousers to the ankle, where they end in a snug cuff, and are worn primarily for horse riding. The term is also used as slang for a type of short riding boot, also called a ''paddock boot'' or ...
during the day and a
saree A sari (sometimes also saree or shari)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * as, শাৰী, xārī, translit-std=ISO * bn, শাড়ি, śāṛi, translit-std=ISO * gu, સાડી, sāḍī, translit-std= ...
for formal wear. At the age of 23 years she secretly travelled to London to become an actress, telling only her two sisters, Sushila and Ourmilla. At the time, her mother was visiting the United States, and upon receiving Devi's telegram stating "I have left India without permission" ... "and am on my way to London", her mother went to London to meet her. Devi had saved her allowances and following her departure against her father and grandfather's wishes, had supposedly been the centre of much gossip in India. She arrived in London on the SS ''Kaisar-I-Hind'' on 15 November 1935, giving her forwarding address as Westbourne Street, W2.UK and Ireland, incoming passenger lists, 1878-1960
The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and successors: Inwards Passenger Lists.; Class: BT26; Piece: 1075; Item: 23

via
ancestry.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...
. In London, her mother, initially furious over the incident, ultimately helped her enroll at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...
and enlisted the help of
Walter Pidgeon Walter Davis Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian-American actor. He earned two Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for his roles in '' Mrs. Miniver'' (1942) and ''Madame Curie'' (1943). Pidgeon also starred in ...
, who provided the letter introducing her to
Alexander Korda Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; hu, Korda Sándor; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)London Films London Films Productions is a British film and television production company founded in 1932 by Alexander Korda and from 1936 based at Denham Film Studios in Buckinghamshire, near London. The company's productions included ''The Private Life o ...
with Korda, who intended to launch her career in films, after
Merle Oberon Merle Oberon (born Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson; 19 February 191123 November 1979) was a British actress who began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' (1933). After her success in ''The Scarle ...
. She played several extra-roles, learnt to walk like a model and how to do Western make-up. She appeared on stage for the first time in 1938, when she played the role of a Turkish slave girl in a play about
Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculos ...
,
Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...
and Shelley, ''The Heart was not Burned'', at the Gate Theatre.} She subsequently had a role in the children's theatrical piece ''
Let's Pretend ''Let's Pretend'', created and directed by Nila Mack, was a CBS radio series for children. Prior to being renamed ''Let's Pretend'', the program had a variety of titles and formats. In its most famous form, ''Let's Pretend'', the Peabody Award ...
''. Her sisters were reported to visit her in London, and the three were popular socialites of the 1930s. In addition, sometime in the 1930s, she also featured in ''
Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...
''.Princess Indira Devi of Kapurthala
Indian women and war. BIMCIC. p.12. File:Maharani Brinda Devi of Kapurthala, formally of Jubbal, with her three daughters.png, Indira Devi with her mother and two sisters File:Princesses-of-kapurthala.jpg, Indira Devi (centre) with her sisters princesses Sushila (left) and Ourmilla (right) (1935) File:Princess Indira Devi of Kapurthala, mid 1930s, Kinsey Studios, Delhi.png, Indira Devi, mid 1930s, Kinsey Studios, Delhi. File:Princess Indira Devi before 1935.jpg, Indira Devi, likely mid-1930s, Hay Wrightson Ltd.


Second World War

At the onset of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, Devi sat and passed the
St John Ambulance St John Ambulance is the name of a number of affiliated organisations in different countries which teach and provide first aid and emergency medical services, and are primarily staffed by volunteers. The associations are overseen by the internat ...
first aid examination, and subsequently transported casualties during
the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...
. Earlier, she had travelled Europe and was in Munich in 1939, at the time of the
Munich Crisis The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. It provided "cession to Germany ...
. For a short while, she worked as a censor for the wartime department of postal censorship. She joined
BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...
in 1939. At that time, she lived at 512a
Nell Gwynn House Nell Gwynn House is a ten-storey residential building in Sloane Avenue, Chelsea, London, designed in the Art Deco style by G. Kay Green. Completed in 1937, it stands next to the same architect's Sloane Avenue Mansions, built a few years earlier. ...
, Sloane Avenue, Kensington. In 1941, she became political correspondent for the India team of the BBC, with George Orwell as the talk producer, and with the aim at enlisting Indian support for the War. Others on the team included
Mulk Raj Anand Mulk Raj Anand (12 December 1905 – 28 September 2004) was an Indian writer in English, recognised for his depiction of the lives of the poorer castes in traditional Indian society. One of the pioneers of Indo-Anglian fiction, he, togethe ...
,
Venu Chitale Venu Dattatreye Chitale, also known as Leela Ganesh Khare (28 December 1912 – 1 January 1995), was an Indian writer, BBC Radio broadcaster, and secretary to George Orwell during the early years of the Second World War. Chitale was born in Kol ...
,
Zulfiqar Ali Bukhari Zulfiqar Ali Bukhari often abbreviated as Z. A. Bukhari (Urdu:ذوالفقار علی بخاری) (July 6, 1904 – July 12, 1975) was a broadcaster of British India and later Pakistan. He is notoriously remembered for being the reason Bade G ...
, T. S. Eliot and
E. M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly ''A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stori ...
. She appeared regularly on the Home Service and the Eastern Service, and became affectionately known as the "Radio Princess". She hosted talks with Indian men in technical training based in the UK, and a 30-minute programme called '' Hello Punjab'', a programme in Hindustani for the British Indian Army based in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. From the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
, where she was sometimes the only woman in the press gallery, she analysed and broadcast weekly reports to India in a programme called '' The Debate Continues''. With Narayana Menon she hosted the Indian Service musical programmes, and was familiar with popular and classical western music. In 1943 she was appointed permanently at the Overseas Service Division. With regard to the BBC's wartime broadcasts to listeners in India, when an initial questionnaire was sent across India asking about who people preferred to listen to, Devi was found to be twice as popular as Orwell. BBC producer Trevor Hill later recalled in his memoirs ''
Over the Airwaves Over may refer to: Places *Over, Cambridgeshire, England *Over, Cheshire, England *Over, South Gloucestershire, England * Over, Tewkesbury, near Gloucester, England ** Over Bridge *Over, Seevetal, Germany Music Albums * ''Over'' (album), by Pe ...
'', that Devi was a "very elegant lady in beautifully cut English tweeds, and with a beautifully cut Oxford accent to match". In India she was noted to have a "very good command of English".


Post-war life

In February 1948, Devi was cleared of a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol in November 1947, but given a fine for dangerous driving, found to be due to taking pills containing
ephedrine Ephedrine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is often used to prevent low blood pressure during anesthesia. It has also been used for asthma, narcolepsy, and obesity but is not the preferred treatment. It is of unclear benefit in ...
,
caffeine Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine class. It is mainly used recreationally as a cognitive enhancer, increasing alertness and attentional performance. Caffeine acts by blocking binding of adenosine to ...
and
phenobarbitone Phenobarbital, also known as phenobarbitone or phenobarb, sold under the brand name Luminal among others, is a medication of the barbiturate type. It is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the treatment of certain types of ep ...
, which she mistook for
aspirin Aspirin, also known as acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to reduce pain, fever, and/or inflammation, and as an antithrombotic. Specific inflammatory conditions which aspirin is used to treat inc ...
. At the time she resided at Yeoman's Row, Chelsea. In 1949, when her father became the Maharaja of Kapurthala, following the death of her grandfather, she was living in Ivinghoe Aston, Buckinghamshire. In 1951, Devi visited Stormont. There, she reported on the anniversary of the 1921 Northern Ireland general election. The following year she visited New York to see the new United Nations Building and report on the
International Refugee Organization The International Refugee Organization (IRO) was an intergovernmental organization founded on 20 April 1946 to deal with the massive refugee problem created by World War II. A Preparatory Commission began operations fourteen months previously. ...
. She left New York on 23 January 1952 on the SS ''Liberté'' bound for Plymouth. The following month,
Frances P. Bolton Frances Payne Bolton (née Bingham; March 29, 1885 – March 9, 1977) was a Republican politician from Ohio. She served in the United States House of Representatives. She was the first woman elected to Congress from Ohio. In the late 1930s Bolton ...
had praised her report as "clear and concise" and included it in her remarks at the
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
. In 1953, Devi co-directed a musical with Wauna Paul. That year, the ''
Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...
'' published a photograph of Devi changing the tyre of a caravan, also carrying Paul; they were preparing to drive to India. In 1962, following her return from India, she narrated a film by the explorer Count Vitold de Golish, ''Twilight of the Maharajahs'', for the BBC in their ''Adventure'' series. It was delivered alongside her own life, having discovered old film footage after recently revisiting her former family palace. In 1963 she narrated ''Disciples of the Sword'', a film about the Sikhs by Rustom Master in the same series. She continued to work for the BBC until 1968. In later life she moved to Ibiza, Spain, where she managed a
bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...
. She died there in September 1979.


Selected publications

* ''The Revenge of the Gods: A story of ancient Egypt''. The Eastern Press, London, 1928.


Notes


References


Citations


Bibliography

*


Further reading

* Sukhjit Singh., Frederick, Cynthia Meera. 2019 Prince, Patron and Patriarch: Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala. India: Showcase/Roli Books. ISBN 9788193860854 * * *


External links

* *{{NPG name
BBC documentary: 19 Metre Band ("Go behind the scenes of Indian programmes on the BBC General Overseas Service (later the World Service)") (1941)
1912 births 1979 deaths Indian princesses People from Kapurthala BBC radio presenters Indian actresses Indian women radio presenters Radio reporters and correspondents Publicans Expatriates from British India in the United Kingdom BBC World Service presenters Queen Mary College, Lahore alumni