Princess Irene Kaur of Lahore

Irene Duleep Singh (25 October 1889 – 8 October 1926) was an Anglo-Indian princess and painter who was the daughter of Maharaja Duleep Singh and his second wife, Ada Wetherill, an Englishwoman. Compared to her more famous half-sisters from Duleep Singh's first marriage, comparatively little is known about Princess Irene and her sister Pauline. She suffered from mental-illness and lost her life to suicide. After her death, her estate was contested between her surviving sister Pauline and her half-sister Bamba, which permanently damaged relations between them.

Biography Birth record for Princess Irene Duleep Singh, Paris, France, 27 October 1889. Irene was born on 25 October 1889 in Paris, France to parents Maharaja Duleep Singh and Ada Douglas-Wetherill. She was the second daughter born to the couple. ) for her mental illness in England at nursing-home after admitting herself but moved back to Paris after her care there. Originally, Irene had bequeathed her inheritance to her sister, Pauline. However, one day prior to her suicide she had instead gotten a new will made that gave all her inheritance to a charity named Dr Barnardo's Home for Poor and Unwanted Children. Pauline contested the new will on the basis of her sister not having a sound state of mind at the time. However, for unknown reasons, Princess Bamba also contested the will and claimed to be its true beneficiary and tried to destroy the reputation of her half-sister Pauline, however Catherine and Sophia did not join her legal battle and separated themselves from the affair. Bamba hired Sir Ellis Hume-Williams as a lawyer and had private medical-records of the late Irene revealed. The court ruled entirely in-favour of Irene's surviving sister Pauline and Bamba was ordered to pay the £3,600 legal fees for both the plaintiff and defendant. However, Bamba never paid the cost. The relationship between Pauline and her half-sisters never recovered after the legal case and she moved to France.

Ancestry