Suffragette palace

Abstract

Sophia Duleep Singh, a member of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) and one of the British Empire’s most prominent female suffrage activists of colour, subverted the spatial and political meanings of Hampton Court Palace to create a unique and powerful protest to further the cause of women’s enfranchisement. Hampton Court was far more than just Duleep Singh’s home; the palace, its residents and its history all played key roles in both her identity and her impact as an activist. By analysing Duleep Singh’s political use of Hampton Court Palace, and its hybridised identity as a home, public museum and heritage site, this article centres the use of space in Duleep Singh’s political activism as an Indian colonial subject protesting in Britain. Moreover, Duleep Singh’s suffrage activism at Hampton Court Palace complicates our understanding of spaces that defied the public/private binary and the ways WSPU suffragettes could manipulate these hybridised spaces for their own political use.