London Diwali on the Square Cancelled as Storm Hits; Kensington Palace Opens Sophia Duleep Singh Exhibition

Storm Boelo brought 80mph winds to London on Saturday, forcing organisers to cancel the city's annual Diwali on the Square celebrations on safety grounds and leaving thousands in the south of England without power. The cancellation came in the same week that Kensington Palace opened a major exhibition honouring Princess Sophia Duleep Singh — the goddaughter of Queen Victoria who became a Suffragette — 150 years after her birth, while the Sikh Federation pressed the British government for a public inquiry into the death of Henry Nowak in Southampton.

🎉 Storm Boelo forces Diwali on the Square cancellation

London's annual Diwali on the Square celebrations, a major gathering in the heart of the capital for the South Asian community, were cancelled after independent health and safety experts recommended against proceeding. The decision was driven by Storm Boelo, the second named storm of the season, which brought winds of up to 80 miles per hour to parts of the United Kingdom. By Saturday, thousands of homes and properties across the south of England had been left without power as the storm moved through the region. The Met Office warned that Storm Boelo would bring a danger to life from flying debris and crashing waves, and advised the public to stay indoors as much as possible. The cancellation of the Diwali on the Square celebrations will have been a significant disappointment for the many thousands who ordinarily gather in central London for the event, one of the city's most prominent annual expressions of South Asian culture and community. The storm's severity made the safety decision unavoidable, with rail passengers travelling north also urged to check for disruption before beginning their journeys. The event had been a fixture of London's festive calendar, drawing visitors from across the city's diverse communities each year. [1]

🪔 Kensington Palace exhibition on Punjabi Suffragette princess

An exhibition at Kensington Palace in London is exploring the life of Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, 150 years after her birth on 8 August 1876 in Belgravia, west London. Sophia spent her entire life in London while her siblings moved abroad — her older sister to Lahore and her middle sister to Germany, as exhibition historian Dr Mishka Sinha noted. Her father, Maharajah Duleep Singh, was the last ruler of the Sikh Empire in Punjab, India. Duleep Singh came to power at the age of five but was removed from his throne after Britain annexed Punjab in 1849. He arrived in England at the age of 15 and remained there for the rest of his life, eventually becoming close to Queen Victoria. Sophia grew up in wealth and privilege as a British socialite before later becoming a Suffragette and a vocal critic of British rule in India. The exhibition draws on photographs, personal possessions, letters and historical documents, and examines five women who shaped her beliefs: Queen Victoria, her mother Bamba Muller, sisters Catherine and Bamba, and her grandmother Jind Kaur. As the goddaughter of Queen Victoria, Sophia moved in the most elite circles of British aristocratic life before embracing a politics of resistance against the empire that had dispossessed her family. [2]

Sikh Federation demands public inquiry into Southampton killing

The Sikh Federation has called on the British government to hold a public inquiry into failures surrounding the death of Henry Nowak, an 18-year-old student killed in Southampton in December 2025. Nowak was killed by Vickrum Digwa, 23, who carried a knife he claimed as part of his Sikh religion. Dabinderjit Singh, the Sikh Federation's chief executive for political engagement, wrote to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Justice Secretary David Lammy and Attorney General Richard Hermer, arguing that misinformation about the murder weapon had been highly damaging to the Sikh community. Hampshire Police released bodycam footage with the Nowak family's permission showing Henry Nowak repeatedly saying he could not breathe as he lay dying in handcuffs after being stabbed. A jury inquest is planned for next year. Under Section 139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, a practising Sikh may carry a kirpan in public for religious reasons, though using it aggressively is illegal. The trial judge described Digwa's second knife, used in the killing, as a large Sikh dagger. The Sikh Federation and the Network of Sikh Organisations both maintained that this weapon was not a kirpan but a Persian blade known as a pesh-kabz, associated with Nihang warrior-sect subculture. The Crown Prosecution Service noted that Digwa chose to carry two ceremonial knives. [5]

Sources: [1] London Evening Standard · [2] BBC · [5] BBC