Whiteley traveled to India in the 1920s as her supposed biological father had done: she was the guest of the Maharaja of Udaipur, and wrote several articles about India for British magazines. Her presence caused some trouble with the British government in India, especially when a local cleric fell in love with her. Leaving India, she eventually settled in London. She grew increasingly disturbed, and was often in dire poverty. She was committed to Napsbury Hospital, where she was known to the staff of Napsbury as "the Princess", and visitors remarked that she actually behaved like one. Whiteley remained at Napsbury until her death. According to the Guide to the Opal Whiteley Papers, she was buried at Highgate Cemetery, where her gravestone bears both her names with the inscription "I spake as a child".