“It is with deep sadness that I must announce the demise of my mother, Princess India d'Afghanistan, daughter of King Amanullah Khan and Queen Soraya. She passed peacefully in Rome on Friday evening, October 13, 2023, at around 19:00,” Soraya Malek said.

She also said that Princess India devoted most of her last four decades to aiding her fellow Afghans. In the 1980s, she cared for injured and ill Afghans in Rome. During the 1990s, she passionately delivered speeches across European cities to raise awareness about the Taliban's discriminatory gender policies.

Throughout the two decades of the Republic, she embarked on numerous trips to Afghanistan, delivering funds she had raised and material aid she had collected from generous donors, Malek added.

Principessa India d'Afghanistan, born on June 7, 1929, is the youngest daughter of Amanullah Khan and Soraya Tarzi, who served as King and Queen of Afghanistan in the 1920s. She holds the distinguished title of princess within the royal house of Mohammadzai-Tarzi.

Princess India, born five months after her father's abdication in Bombay, British India, in 1929, was named in honour of their exile destination.

Following an invitation from Queen Elena of Italy, the family settled in Rome, where she spent her formative years and remained a resident. She studied at Pension Marie-José in Gstaad, Switzerland, and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy.

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