Sylvia, Queen of the Headhunters: An Outrageous Englishwoman And Her Lost Kingdom

Sylvia Brooke was one of the most exotic figures of the twentieth century. Otherwise known as Her Highness the Ranee of Sarawak, she was the consort and, by custom, slave of Sir Vyner Brooke, the last White Rajah, an Englishman whose family had ruled the jungle kingdom of Sarawak on Borneo for three generations. They had their own flag, currency, postage stamps and constabulary, and each White Rajah had the power of life and death over his subjects - Malays, Chinese and headhunting Dyak tribesmen.
By the 1930s, though, this romantic dynasty was in decay. The whimsical Rajah Vyner and his unhinged, Rasputin-like private secretary bore some of the blame for this, but in many people's eyes a bigger villain was Ranee Sylvia, extravagantly dressed socialite, author of eleven books, and incorrigible self-dramatist, described by the press as 'that most charming of despots', and by her own brother as 'a female lago'.
The Colonial Office branded her a dangerous woman, full of Machiavellian schemes to alter the succession, and spectacularly vulgar in her behaviour. In 1946, after observing the Ranee dancing with two prostitutes in a nightclub, then taking them back to the palace to paint their portraits, a visiting MP from Westminster concluded that 'a more undignified woman it would be hard to find'.
Sylvia, Queen of the Headhunters chronicles the extraordinary life of the Ranee, and her part in the dramatic downfall of the Brooke Raj. The colourful supporting cast includes Sylvia's father, a celebrated courtier in love with his own son, her wild and beautiful daughters (known in the popular press as Princesses Gold, Pearl and Baba), and the Rajah's thwarted heir, who later became a 'travelling salesman for universal peace' and a firm believer in flying saucers.