Mohit Raj: added first bio v1 - done

2026-03-21T06:40:37Z

added first bio v1 - done

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{{Short description|Indian princess and radio presenter (1912–1979)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Indira Devi
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Princess Indira Devi of Kapurthala, Bassano Ltd, 1938.png
| image_upright =
| caption = Devi in 1938<ref name=Poddar2015/>
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| pronunciation =
| birth_name = 
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1912|02|26|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Kapurthala]], [[Kapurthala State]], British India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1979|09|01|1912|02|26|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Ibiza]], Spain
| other_names =
| education = [[Queen Mary College, Lahore]]
| occupation = Radio presenter
| years_active = 1939–1968
| era =
| employer = [[BBC Radio]]
| organization =
| agent = 
| known_for = {{Indented plainlist|
* Political correspondent to [[George Orwell]]: ''The Debate Continues'' from the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] (1940s)
* Hosting ''[[Hello Punjab]]'' (1940s)
}}
| title = 
| spouse = 
| partner = 
| children =
| parents = 
| mother = [[Brinda Devi]]
| father = [[Paramjit Singh (ruler)|Paramjit Singh]]
| relatives = [[Jagatjit Singh]] (grandfather)
}}

'''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 [[Jagatjit Singh|Maharaja Jagatjit Singh]] of the [[princely state]] of [[Kapurthala State|Kapurthala]] in [[Punjab, British India]]. During the [[Second World War]] she was recruited as a political correspondent to [[George Orwell]], for the India team of the [[BBC Radio|BBC]]. There, she became a regular broadcaster of the programme ''The Debate Continues'' from the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]], and ''[[Hello Punjab]]'', a programme in Hindustani for the [[British Indian Army]]. With [[V. K. Narayana Menon|Narayana Menon]] she [[Master of ceremonies|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]]. For a brief period, she worked at [[London Films]] with [[Alexander Korda]], and in 1938, she appeared on stage for the first time, when she played the role of a Turkish slave girl.

At the onset of the Second World War, Devi sat the [[St John Ambulance]] examinations and qualified in first aid. She subsequently transported casualties during [[the Blitz]]. 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]] on 26 February 1912, to the Sikh prince [[Paramjit Singh (ruler)|Paramjit Singh]] and his Hindu [[Rajput]] wife [[Brinda Devi]].<ref name=Will2003.1.>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Elaine |title=Memoirs of a rebellious princess |date=2003 |chapter=1|pages=1–14}}</ref><ref name=open>{{cite web |title=Making Britain. Discover how South Asians shaped the nation, 1870-1950: Indira Devi |url=https://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/makingbritain/content/indira-devi |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220720185641/https://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/makingbritain/content/indira-devi |archive-date=20 July 2022 |access-date=20 July 2022 |website=www.open.ac.uk |publisher=[[The Open University]]}}</ref> She was the eldest of their three daughters and the eldest grandchild of [[Jagatjit Singh|Maharaja Jagatjit Singh]] of the [[princely state]] of [[Kapurthala State|Kapurthala]] in Punjab, [[British India]].<ref name=open/><ref name=BAAN1949>{{cite news |title=The Princess Indira |work=Bucks Advertiser & Aylesbury News |date=24 June 1949 |page=3|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002028/19490624/024/0003|via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In infancy, she [[failure to thrive|failed to grow]] until fed on goat's milk,<ref name=Will2003.9.>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Elaine |title=Memoirs of a rebellious princess |date=2003 |chapter=9|pages=117–129}}</ref> and in 1919, she caught [[measles]] along with her sisters.<ref name=Will2003.11.>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Elaine |title=Memoirs of a rebellious princess |date=2003 |chapter=11|pages=145–159}}</ref> Her mother later recalled that Devi was close to being spoilt and was sent to board at [[Queen Mary College, Lahore|Queen Mary College]], Lahore.<ref name=Will2003.14.>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Elaine |title=Memoirs of a rebellious princess |date=2003 |chapter=14|page=199}}</ref> There, she studied politics,<ref name=CMG1944>{{cite news |title=She talks to India|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003221/19441015/039/0003 |access-date=17 August 2022 |work=Civil & Military Gazette (Lahore) |date=15 October 1944 |page=3|via=[[British Newspaper Archive]]|url-access=subscription}}</ref> and decided she would like to be an actress.<ref name=Will2003.14./> In 1934, she was noted to "have done exceptionally well" as an owner of dogs at the [[Tail-Waggers Club]],<ref name=BWPG1934>{{cite news |title=Tail-wagger sergeants - Champion Recruiter |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002174/19340113/115/0012 |access-date=25 July 2022 |work=Bournemouth Weekly Post and Graphic |date=13 January 1934 |page=12|via=[[British Newspaper Archive]]|url-access=subscription}}</ref> and she was known to feel more comfortable in her [[jodhpurs]] during the day and a [[saree]] for formal wear.<ref name=Will2003.15./>

At the age of 23 years she secretly travelled to London to become an actress, telling only her two sisters, Sushila and Ourmilla.<ref name=open/><ref name=Will2003.15.>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Elaine |title=Memoirs of a rebellious princess |date=2003 |chapter=15|pages=205–219}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Will2003.15./> 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.<ref name=Chambers2011>{{cite book |last1=Chambers |first1=Colin |title=Black and Asian Theatre in Britain: a history |date=2011 |publisher=Routledge |location=Abingdon, Oxon |isbn=978-1-134-21689-5|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CRn9DwAAQBAJ&dq=indira+of+kapurthala&pg=PP101|chapter=4. Between the wars|pages=83–107}}</ref> She arrived in London on the [[SS Kaisar-I-Hind|SS ''Kaisar-I-Hind'']] on 15 November 1935, giving her forwarding address as Westbourne Street, W2.<ref name="Pass1935">[https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/1518/images/47369_32021000952_2394-00085?treeid=&personid=&rc=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=gft1&_phstart=successSource&pId=21883488 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. [https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/1518/images/47369_32021000952_2394-00085?treeid=&personid=&rc=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=lON5&_phstart=successSource&pId=21883488] via [[ancestry.com]]. {{Subscription required}}</ref>{{efn|Devi's arrival in England is given as 1 January 1935 in The Open University document.<ref name=open/> She had previously visited London at least once, when at age two she accompanied her parents from Paris at the onset of [[World War I]].<ref name=Will2003.10.>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Elaine |title=Memoirs of a rebellious princess |date=2003 |chapter=10|pages=130–144}}</ref>}} In London, her mother, initially furious over the incident, ultimately helped her enroll at the [[Royal Academy of Dramatic Art]] and enlisted the help of [[Walter Pidgeon]], who provided the letter introducing her to [[Alexander Korda]], who reluctantly agreed to assist.<ref name=Will2003.15./><ref name=Collett2022>{{cite book |last1=Collett |first1=Nigel |title=Developing the Heart: E.M. Forster and India |date=2022 |publisher=City University of Hong Kong Press |isbn=978-962-937-590-4 |chapter=Notes|page=353 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=abFYEAAAQBAJ&dq=princess+indira+devi+of+kapurthala&pg=PA353 |language=en}}</ref> For a brief period, she worked at [[London Films]] with Korda, who intended to launch her career in films, after [[Merle Oberon]].<ref name=open/> She played several extra-roles, learnt to walk like a model and how to do Western make-up.<ref name=NJ1938>{{cite news |title=Princess as film extra |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001898/19380408/124/0006 |access-date=25 July 2022 |work=Nottingham Journal |date=8 April 1938 |page=6|via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription}}</ref> She appeared on stage for the first time in 1938, when she played the role of a Turkish slave girl in a play about [[John Keats|Keats]], [[Byron]] and [[Percy Bysshe Shelley|Shelley]], ''The Heart was not Burned'', at the Gate Theatre.<ref name=Chambers2011/><ref name=Sphere1938>{{cite news |title=What other people are doing |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001861/19381203/035/0031 |access-date=25 July 2022 |work=The Sphere |date=3 December 1938 |page=393|via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription}}</ref>{{efn|Cast with [[James Mason]] and [[Pamela Brown (actress)|Pamela Brown]], at the Gate Theatre in London, not Dublin.<ref name=Sweeney1999>{{cite book |last1=Sweeney |first1=Kevin |title=James Mason: A Bio-bibliography |date=1999 |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport |isbn=0-313-28496-2 |page=238 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DVtVA4EajSgC&pg=PA238 |language=en}}</ref>}} She subsequently had a role in the children's [[revue|theatrical piece]] ''[[Let's Pretend (children's review)|Let's Pretend]]''.<ref name=Chambers2011/> Her sisters were reported to visit her in London, and the three were popular [[socialite]]s of the 1930s.<ref name=Singh2020>{{cite journal |last1=Singh |first1=Ranveer |title=Sikh history on the streets of London: The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea |journal=Sikh Research Journal |date=2020 |volume=5 |issue=1 |url=https://sikhresearchjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/articles/Sikh_Research_Journal_V5_N1_Spring2020.pdf |pages=24–25 |archive-date=23 April 2022 |access-date=26 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220423123414/https://sikhresearchjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/articles/Sikh_Research_Journal_V5_N1_Spring2020.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> In addition, sometime in the 1930s, she also featured in ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]''.<ref name=BIMCIC>[https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c3cb7be12b13fb318bb35ce/t/62b07ed9dd336631a91b8833/1655733986785/Indian_Women%26War_Booklet.pdf Princess Indira Devi of Kapurthala]. Indian women and war. BIMCIC. p.12.</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="200px" style="text-align:centre">
File:Maharani Brinda Devi of Kapurthala, formally of Jubbal, with her three daughters.png|Indira Devi with her mother and two sisters<ref name=Poddar2015>{{cite book |last1=Poddar |first1=Abhishek |last2=Gaskell |first2=Nathaniel |last3=Pramod Kumar |first3=K. G |last4=Museum of Art & Photography (Bangalore |first4=India) |title=Maharanis: women of royal India |date=2015 |publisher=Mapin Publishing|location=Ahmedabad |isbn=978-93-85360-06-0 |chapter=Kapurthala|pages=138–141 |oclc=932267190 |language=English}}</ref>
File:Princesses-of-kapurthala.jpg|Indira Devi (centre) with her sisters princesses Sushila (left) and Ourmilla (right) (1935)<ref name=Poddar2015/>
File:Princess Indira Devi of Kapurthala, mid 1930s, Kinsey Studios, Delhi.png|Indira Devi, mid 1930s, Kinsey Studios, Delhi.<ref name=Poddar2015/>
File:Princess Indira Devi before 1935.jpg|Indira Devi, likely mid-1930s, Hay Wrightson Ltd.<ref name=Will2003.Ph.>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Elaine |title=Memoirs of a rebellious princess |date=2003 |chapter=Photos}}</ref>
</gallery>

==Second World War==
[[File:Indira Devi of Kapurthala at the BBC c 1946.jpg|thumb|Indira Devi at the BBC, December 1942<ref>{{cite web |title=BBC Photo Sales |url=https://bbcphotosales.co.uk/search/?searchQuery=Princess+Kapurthala |access-date=17 August 2022}}</ref>]]
At the onset of the [[Second World War]], Devi sat and passed the [[St John Ambulance]] first aid examination, and subsequently transported casualties during [[the Blitz]].<ref name=open/><ref name=Webster2018>{{cite book |last1=Webster |first1=Wendy |title=Mixing it: Diversity in World War Two Britain |date=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-873576-2 |page=114 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XPhJDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA114|language=en |chapter=3. The Empire comes to Britain}}</ref> Earlier, she had travelled Europe and was in Munich in 1939, at the time of the [[Munich Agreement|Munich Crisis]].<ref name=NW1951>{{cite news |title=BBC Princess |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001542/19510619/082/0004 |access-date=26 July 2022 |work=Northern Whig |date=19 June 1951|via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription}}</ref> For a short while, she worked as a censor for the wartime department of postal censorship.<ref name=CMG1944/>

She joined [[BBC Radio]] in 1939.<ref name=Collett2022/> At that time, she lived at 512a [[Nell Gwynn House]], Sloane Avenue, Kensington.<ref name=Singh2020/> 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.<ref name=Bhatt2006>{{cite book |last1=Bhatt |first1=Arunkumar |title=Psychological Warfare and India |date=2006 |publisher=Lancer Publishers |location=New Delhi |isbn=81-7062-133-X |page=251 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1whOBwAAQBAJ&dq=radio+princess&pg=PA251 |language=en |chapter=9. The Indian experience}}</ref> Others on the team included [[Mulk Raj Anand]], [[Venu Chitale]], [[Zulfiqar Ali Bukhari]], [[T. S. Eliot]] and [[E. M. Forster]].<ref name=Bhatt2006/> She appeared regularly on the Home Service and the Eastern Service, and became affectionately known as the "Radio Princess".<ref name=Nasta2012/><ref name=Potter2022>{{cite book |last1=Potter |first1=Simon J. |title=This is the BBC: Entertaining the Nation, Speaking for Britain, 1922–2022 |date=2022 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-289852-4 |page=99 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ziFnEAAAQBAJ&dq=princess+indira+devi+of+kapurthala&pg=PA99|language=en |chapter=3. Propaganda and war 1939-1945}}</ref> She hosted talks with [[Bevin trainees|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.<ref name=Webster2018/><ref name=Eliot2020>{{cite book |last1=Kaul |first1=Chandrika |editor1-last=Eliot |editor1-first=Simon |editor2-last=Wiggam |editor2-first=Marc |title=Allied Communication to the Public During the Second World War: National and Transnational Networks |date=2020 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |location=London |isbn=978-1-350-10513-3 |page=208 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zJ-xDwAAQBAJ&q=PA208|language=en |chapter=12. "The meek ass between two burdens?" ''The BBC and India during the Second World War''}}</ref> From the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]], where she was sometimes the only woman in the press gallery,<ref name=CMG1944/> she analysed and broadcast weekly reports to India in a programme called ''[[The Debate Continues]]''.<ref name=Webster2018/><ref name=Eliot2020/> With [[V. K. Narayana Menon|Narayana Menon]] she [[Master of ceremonies|hosted]] the Indian Service musical programmes, and was familiar with popular and classical western music.<ref name=Rodrigues1994.85/> In 1943 she was appointed permanently at the Overseas Service Division.<ref name=Nasta2012>{{cite book |last1=Bainbridge|first1=Emma|last2= Stadtler|first2=Florian |editor=Susheila Nasta|title=India in Britain: South Asian Networks and Connections, 1858–1950 |date=2012 |publisher=Springer|location=Basingstoke, Hampshire |isbn=978-0-230-39272-4 |chapter=10. Calling from London, talking to India: South Asian networks at the BBC and the case of G. V. Desani|page=176 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dgYGlJI9vrUC&dq=princess+indira+devi+of+kapurthala&pg=PA176 |language=en}}</ref>

With regard to the BBC's wartime broadcasts to listeners in India, when an [[Report on Indian Programmes (1943)|initial questionnaire]] was sent across India asking about who people preferred to listen to, Devi was found to be twice as popular as Orwell.<ref name=Rodrigues1994.236>{{cite web |last1=Rodrigues |first1=Abha Sharma |title=George Orwell, the BBC and India: a critical study |date=1994 |url=https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/7154|location=University of Edinburgh|page=236 |quote=This thesis focuses attention on the two years that George Orwell spent, between August 1941 and November 1943, at the Indian Section of the B.B.C., producing propaganda talks for listeners in India and elsewhere.}}</ref>{{efn|How accurate the report was is not clear. Laurence Brander, who was tasked to investigate the impact of the Indian programmes, did not gather the data himself, and told Orwell that very few Indians listened to the broadcasts.<ref name=Rodrigues1994.236/><ref name=Orwell1998>{{cite book |last1=Orwell |first1=George |last2=Davison |first2=Peter |editor1-last=Davison |editor1-first=Peter |title=Two Wasted Years: 1943 |date=1998 |publisher=Secker & Warburg |isbn=0-436-40409-5 |pages=343–344 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZVnImK-J1OcC&q=princess |language=en}}</ref>}} BBC producer [[Trevor Hill (producer)|Trevor Hill]] later recalled in his memoirs ''[[Over the Airwaves]]'', that Devi was a "very elegant lady in beautifully cut English tweeds, and with a beautifully cut Oxford accent to match".<ref name=Hill>{{cite book |last1=Hill |first1=Trevor |title=Over the Airwaves: My Life in Broadcasting |date=2005 |publisher=The Book Guild|location=Sussex |isbn=1-85776-832-9|language=en|chapter=3. 200Oxford Street, with the BBC's Overseas Service|page=28|oclc=1245625342 }}</ref> In India she was noted to have a "very good command of English".<ref name=Rodrigues1994.85>{{cite web |last1=Rodrigues |first1=Abha Sharma |title=George Orwell, the BBC and India: a critical study |date=1994 |url=https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/7154|location=University of Edinburgh|pages=85–86 |quote=This thesis focuses attention on the two years that George Orwell spent, between August 1941 and November 1943, at the Indian Section of the B.B.C., producing propaganda talks for listeners in India and elsewhere.}}</ref>

==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]], [[caffeine]] and [[Phenobarbital|phenobarbitone]], which she mistook for [[aspirin]].<ref name="DET1948">{{cite news |date=13 February 1948 |title=Princess cleared of drinking charge |page=1 |work=Dundee Evening Telegraph |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000563/19480213/013/0001 |access-date=25 July 2022|via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription}}</ref> At the time she resided at Yeoman's Row, Chelsea.<ref name=DET1948/> In 1949, when her father became the Maharaja of Kapurthala, following the death of her grandfather, she was living in [[Ivinghoe Aston]], Buckinghamshire.<ref name=open/><ref name=BAAN1949/>

In 1951, Devi visited Stormont.<ref name=BN1951>{{cite news |title=Indian Princess at Stormont |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000038/19510621/100/0004 |access-date=26 July 2022 |work=Belfast Newsletter |date=21 June 1951|via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription}}</ref> There, she reported on the anniversary of the [[1921 Northern Ireland general election]].<ref name=LS1951>{{cite news |title=Festival recordings|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002913/19510831/036/0002 |access-date=26 July 2022 |work=Lisburn Standard |date=31 August 1951 |page=2|via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The following year she visited New York to see the new [[Headquarters of the United Nations|United Nations Building]] and report on the [[International Refugee Organization]].<ref name=US1952>{{cite book |title=Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress |date=1952 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LvqEGRq39c4C&dq=indira+of+kapurthala&pg=SL1-PA870 |language=en|page=870}}</ref> She left New York on 23 January 1952 on the [[SS Europa (1928)|SS ''Liberté'']] bound for Plymouth.<ref name=PCL1952>{{cite web |title=U.S., Departing Passenger and Crew Lists, 1914-196 |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/60882/images/42155_333329-00488?treeid=&personid=&rc=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=eWF1&_phstart=successSource&pId=7254168 |website=www.ancestry.co.uk |access-date=26 July 2022|via=ancestry.com|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The following month, [[Frances P. Bolton]] had praised her report as "clear and concise" and included it in her remarks at the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]].<ref name=US1952/>

In 1953, Devi co-directed a musical with [[Wauna Paul]].<ref name=PEN1953>{{cite news |title=Women have strong interest in this show |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000290/19530402/038/0005 |access-date=26 July 2022 |work=Portsmouth Evening News |date=2 April 1953 |page=5|via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription}}</ref> That year, the ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' published a photograph of Devi changing the tyre of a caravan, also carrying Paul; they were preparing to drive to India.<ref name=DM1953>{{cite news |title=An iceberg with an odd sense of timing|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19580704/007/0002 |access-date=26 July 2022 |work=Daily Mirror |date=4 July 1958 |page=2|via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In 1962, following her return from India, she narrated a film by the explorer Count [[:Fr:Vitold de Golish|Vitold de Golish]], ''Twilight of the Maharajahs'', for the BBC in their ''Adventure'' series.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220727094406/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/14f0c5d2f8f945fd85cf0372ad109cb4 "Adventure: ''The Twilight of the Maharajahs''"], BBC Programme Index. Retrieved 27 July 2022.</ref> It was delivered alongside her own life, having discovered old film footage after recently revisiting [[Sainik School, Kapurthala|her former family palace]].<ref name=RT196>{{cite book |title=Radio Times |date=1962 |publisher=G. Newnes |page=49 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wN9RAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Twilight+of+the+Maharajahs%22|quote="Today’s Adventure programme, Twilight of the Maharajas shows something of the former glories of the princes, and couples with this the personal story of Princess Indira of Kapurthala who ran away from her grandfather’s court to settle in England. A year ago she returned to Kapurthala for the first time since leaving her ancestral home. In the palace … she discovered half-a-dozen rusty cans of old film showing the princely life as it was over a generation ago." |language=en}}</ref> In 1963 she narrated ''Disciples of the Sword'', a film about the Sikhs by [[Rustom Master]] in the same series.<ref>{{cite web |title=Disciples of the Sword (1963) |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8c2f3761 |website=BFI|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815054832/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8c2f3761|archive-date=15 August 2022 |access-date=15 August 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=BBC Programme Index |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/07f0807cf56c4bd294ba8a1e01fa3fac |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220727101027/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/07f0807cf56c4bd294ba8a1e01fa3fac |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 July 2022 |website=genome.ch.bbc.co.uk |date=2 December 1963 |access-date=15 August 2022}}</ref> She continued to work for the BBC until 1968.<ref name=Nasta2012/>

In later life she moved to Ibiza, Spain, where she managed a [[Bar (establishment)|bar]].<ref name=BIMCIC/> She died there in September 1979.<ref name=open/>

==Selected publications==
* ''The Revenge of the Gods: A story of ancient Egypt''. The Eastern Press, London, 1928.<ref name=lib>{{cite web |title=Library Guides: Bibliographies for South Asian Studies: Pre-Independence |url=https://guides.lib.uw.edu/c.php?g=341864&p=2301845 |website=guides.lib.uw.edu |access-date=24 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220724083446/https://guides.lib.uw.edu/c.php?g=341864&p=2301845 |archive-date=24 July 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{Cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Elaine |title=Maharani: Memoirs of a rebellious princess. Brinda, Maharani of Kapurthala |date=2003 |publisher=Rupa & Co|location=New Delhi |isbn=0-595-09428-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/maharanimemoirso0000will/page/n5/mode/2up}}

==Further reading==
* Sukhjit Singh., Frederick, Cynthia Meera. 2019 Prince, Patron and Patriarch: Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala. India: Showcase/Roli Books. ISBN 9788193860854
* {{Cite book |last1=Calder |first1=Ritchie |last2=Dover |first2=Cedric |last3=Ch'ien |first3=Hsiao |last4=Orwell |first4=George |title=Talking to India |date=1943 |publisher=George Allen & Unwin Ltd |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.241082/page/n31/mode/2up?q=indira}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Elaine |title=Maharani: Memoirs of a rebellious princess. Brinda, Maharani of Kapurthala |date=1954 |publisher=Henry Holt |isbn=0-595-09428-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/maharanimemoirso0000will/page/n5/mode/2up}}
*{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Sukhjit |last2=Frederick |first2=Cynthia Meera |editor-last=Kumar |editor-first=K. G. Pramod |title=Prince, Patron and Patriarch: Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala |date=2019 |publisher=Roli Books |isbn=978-81-938608-5-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3X_DwQEACAAJ |language=en}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Indira Devi of Kapurthala}}
* {{YouTube|hXydJCtY6NM|[1927] Maharaja Jagatjit Singh's Garden Party at his Palace, Indira Devi as a teen}}
*{{NPG name}}
*[https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-19-metre-band-1941-online BBC documentary: 19 Metre Band ("Go behind the scenes of Indian programmes on the BBC General Overseas Service (later the World Service)") (1941)]

[[Category:1912 births]]
[[Category:1979 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian princesses]]
[[Category:People from Kapurthala]]
[[Category:BBC radio presenters]]
[[Category:Indian actresses]]
[[Category:Indian women radio presenters]]
[[Category:Radio reporters and correspondents]]
[[Category:Publicans]]
[[Category:Expatriates from British India in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:BBC World Service presenters]]
[[Category:Queen Mary College, Lahore alumni]]

Indira Devi of Kapurthala - Revision history

Mohit Raj: added first bio v1 - done