During his reign, Singh was noted for his military service, extravagant spending habits, tense relations with the British Raj, marriage to an Irish woman named Florence Bryan, and his contributions to sports both as a player and as a financial benefactor.

[3] By Singh's reign, the Maharaja of Patiala had come to be regarded as the leader of the Sikh community and the premier prince in Punjab.

His first wife, Jasmer Kaur Manshahia, was the mother of his heir and successor as Maharaja, Bhupinder Singh.

Jasmer Kaur Manshahia died of tuberculosis and allegedly, due to grief that Singh had taken another wife.

[3] In 1893, Singh married Florence Bryan, the daughter of his Irish horse stable superintendent and persuaded her to convert to Sikhism.

[4] The Irish composer Thomas O'Brien Butler (1861–1915), who spent some time in India, dedicated a song composition to him.