The Curious Case of Prince Singh
In an 1893 issue of the journal Studies in Psychical Research, a curious story was published of a Prince of Lahore by the name of Prince Victor Duleep Singh, who saw the image his father materialize to him in the form of an oil painting.
Prince Singh, who was one of the last princes of the Lahore dynasty, had been traveling through Europe and he landed in the company of Lord Carnarvon, the same Carnarvon that would go on to discover the tomb of King Tutankhamun. After going to the theater earlier that day in Berlin, they returned to their lodgings.
While in his room, he had trouble sleeping with the light on. Electric lights were new to him. While he was staring at the wall, he noticed something strange about an oil painting. It contained the living image of his father, the Majarajah Duleep Singh, glaring at him.
Singh was clear that it was not an optical illusion in that he was not staring at a painting that “looked” like his father. He was seeing the head of his actual father.
I went to bed, leaving, as I always do, a bright light in the room (electric light). As I lay in bed I found myself looking at an oleograph which hung on the wall opposite my bed. I saw distinctly the face of my father, the Maharajah Duleep Singh, looking at me, as it were, out of this picture; not like a portrait of him, but his real head.
Prince Singh
Prince Singh then approached the image, which was simply staring intently at him, only to discover that the painting looked nothing like a human head. It was, instead, a picture of a girl leaning over a balcony holding flowers in her hand.
The next day Singh told Carnarvon about his strange experience as soon as he woke up. That evening, Lord Carnarvon received two telegrams for the Prince. As soon as Carnarvon entered the room, he immediately knew what had happened.
My father is dead.
Prince Singh
His father had died the night before of an apoplectic seizure. Singh later recalled that his father told them that if they were not together when his father died, he would try to visit him.
Lord Carnarvon confirmed the Prince’s account.
I can confirm Prince V. Duleep Singh’s account. I heard the incident from him on the Sunday morning. The same evening, at about 12 p.m., he received a telegram notifying him of his father’s sudden illness and death. We had no knowledge of his father’s illness.
Lord Carnarvon
Similar stores of clairvoyance are not uncommon. We previously covered the famous philosopher Emmanuel Swedenborg’s similar experience.
