Margaret, Lady Brooke, Ranee of Sarawak (born Margaret Alice Lili de Windt; 9 October 1849 – 1 December 1936) was the ranee of the second

White Rajah The White Rajahs were a dynastic monarchy of the British Brooke family, who founded and ruled the Raj of Sarawak, located on the north west coast of the island of Borneo, from 1841 to 1946. The first ruler was Briton James Brooke. As a reward ...

of Sarawak, Charles Anthony Johnson Brooke. She published her memoir, ''My Life in Sarawak'', in 1913. The memoir offers a rare glimpse of life in The Astana in Kuching and colonial Borneo. The Ranee became legendary during her lifetime as a woman of strength and intelligence, as well as on account of her status, which she shared with the other

s, of being at once an English subject and also an Asian monarch.

Life

Born Margaret Alice Lili de Windt, she was the daughter of Captain Joseph Clayton Jennyns de Windt, of Blunston Hall, and Elizabeth Sarah Johnson. Her brother, Harry de Windt, was a well-known explorer. She married Rajah Charles at

Highworth Highworth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, England, about northeast of Swindon town centre. The 2011 Census recorded a population of 8,151. The town is notable for its Queen Anne and Georgian buildings, dating ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

on 28 October 1869. She was raised to the title of Ranee of Sarawak with the style of Her Highness upon their marriage. The marriage was arranged to solve the succession issue in Sarawak. She followed her spouse to Sarawak, where she became the first in her position, the previous (and first) Rajah being unmarried. The Astana was built specially for her as a wedding present by her spouse. Ranee Margaret Brook was described as intelligent, forceful, non-sentimental and with the ability to dominate by her presence and, though her relationship with Charles soon deteriorated, she secured an independent position for herself and left Charles in the 1880s. Her first three children died within a week of each other on board ship in the Red Sea 1873, while returning to England with the Rajah. Once three more sons were born, the couple separated again and lived estranged, with Rajah Charles living in Sarawak and Margaret in London, where she was at the centre of a social circle that included several of the leading literary talents of the 1890s, such as Oscar Wilde and Henry James. She financed the education of her sons by pawning the diamond Star of Sarawak, and arranged the marriages of her sons by organising social events for the British aristocracy and introducing her sons to daughters of the British nobility to marry. Her title of ranee or queen gave her a position in London society and through it she gave prestige to Sarawak.

Legacy

Fort Margherita Fort Margherita is an old fort constructed in 1879 by Charles Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak situated in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. The fort is an important landmark and monument in Sarawak's history which goes back to the Brooke Dynasty. The fo ...

, also in Kuching, was named after her. Fort Margherita Kuching

Margaret Brooke composed the national anthem of Sarawak, the ''

Gone Forth Beyond the Sea Ibu Pertiwiku ( en, My Motherland) is the official state anthem of Sarawak, Malaysia. The song was adopted in 1988, alongside the adoption of the new State Flag as well, in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of Sarawak's Independence within M ...

'', in 1872. One of Oscar Wilde's fairy-tales, "The Young King", is dedicated to "Margaret, Lady Brooke, The Ranee of Sarawak".

Works

My Life in Sarawak
(Methuen & Co., 1913) * Impromptus (Edward Arnold, 1923) * Good Morning & Good Night (Constable & Co., 1934)

References

Sources

*Koninklijk Genootschap voor Geslacht- en Wapenkunde, Nederlandse Genealogieen 11, Den Haag 1996 (Literature regarding Broek-De Wind) *M. R. H. Calmeyer, de Wind, de Windt, de Wint, Name: De Nederlandsche Leeuw; Location: The Nederlands; Date: 1981;, Pag 23. Co - Author Mr. O. Schutte.

External links