Sylvia, Queen Of The Headhunters

The biography of the last Ranee of Sarawak, born into the aristocracy as Sylvia Brett in 1885 and destined to become ''Queen of the Headhunters''.

''Jaw-dropping ... If you thought White Mischief the last word in English expatriate decadence, you haven''t yet met Sylvia and the Brookes'' The Times

Sylvia Brooke was the consort of His Highness Sir Vyner Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak, the last in a bizarre dynasty of English despots who ruled their jungle kingdom on Borneo until 1946. The White Rajahs were long held up as model rulers, but the spectacularly eccentric behaviour of Ranee Sylvia - self-styled Queen of the Headhunters - changed everything. This is the compelling story of her part in their downfall.