Singh’s arrival in Britain in the 1850s demonstrated how far back Punjabi history went in this country, Bance said.
The couple had six children and Bance said his favourite princess was Catherine (1871-1942).
“Her story was largely untold,” said the 52-year-old, speaking to the BBC as South Asian Heritage Month enters its final week.
“She saved all these Jewish families who were taken to concentration camps.
“She helped people not from her faith, not from her background, not from her heritage, they were total strangers to her. It was just pure humanity.”
He continued: “I really wanted to know more about these children because I can relate to them as a child of immigrants myself.
“I grew up here [in England] and I was born here, so I wanted to know about these mixed race children because they were ethnically Punjabi – but they grew up here.”
