Victoria & Abdul by Shrabani Basu Read Free Book Online Page A

Empire would sparkle before the world.
    Karim and Buksh stood with Dr Tyler near the dining room to await the Queen’s arrival. Soon they were to catch their first glimpse of Queen Victoria. They saw her – a commanding little figure in her mourning clothes and white veil – accompanied by the Duke of Connaught and Princess Beatrice. The Indian Escort stood to attention as she drifted past, inspecting them with a keen eye that noticed every miniscule detail of dress and comportment. As an officer bellowed a command, they extended their ornate swords for her inspection. She then moved over to talk briefly to some Indian Princes who were visiting the castle before walking towards the dining room.
    As she walked up, Tyler knelt before her and Karim hastily did a salaam in oriental style. He then presented a nazar, or gift of a gold mohur, to the Queen on the palm of his hand. The Queentouched and remitted it, and moved over to talk to Tyler. The first brief meeting was over. ‘So ended my first interview with the Empress of India,’ 5 wrote Karim.
    Impressed by the personality that radiated from her, Karim and Buksh grew increasingly apprehensive of their next full meeting with the Queen. That night back at Victoria Hotel, they whispered to each other in Urdu about what to expect.

    The day of the Jubilee arrived, leaving the Queen in a reflective mood. ‘This very eventful day has come … I sat alone ,’ 6 she sighed, her mood a stark contrast to the atmosphere of national celebration. In the gilded bedroom of Buckingham Palace, the sixty-eight-year-old Queen missed the people she had loved and lost. Victoria remained wrapped in widow’s black. Her foreign secretary, Lord Rosebery, had encouraged her to wear a crown instead of her trademark bonnet, but in vain. He had even sent her a memo the previous year, insisting: ‘The symbol that unites this vast Empire is a Crown, not a bonnet.’ But the Queen would not be moved and the bonnet stayed, its solemnity even adding to her presence.
    For her Jubilee, the Queen’s black dress and bonnet were trimmed with the exquisite white point d’Alençon lace and diamonds. She wore a string of pearls round her neck and stepped out to meet the adoring crowds. Her mood lifted as she was driven from Buckingham Palace in a handsome landau drawn by six cream horses, her daughter Vicky and grand daughter Alix beside her. Her Indian Escort rode directly in front, their turbans bobbing in the morning light, drawing cheers and waves from the crowds lining the street. It was the first time the British public had seen Indian officers on the streets.
    Watching from the Palace, Karim bowed to the Queen as she left for her carriage. He noted that she appeared to say something about him to the Lord Chamberlain, Lord Lathom. As the procession started moving, Karim expected that he too would be given orders to join in. When no such command came he asked Dr Tyler why he had not been asked to accompany the Queen as her ‘orderly’. Tyler assured him that he would accompany her next time, an answer that did not satisfy Karim.
    Meanwhile, the Indian Princes, splendidly attired in their native clothes, assembled in their carriages at Hyde Park Cornerand rode out in a carefully co-ordinated procession to the Abbey. Sitting in the first carriage was Kunwar Hurwan Singh, Maharajah of Kapurthala, followed by the Maharajah of Bharatpore. All together, eleven carriages transported the native Princes and Indian delegations. Sunity Devi was holding a parasol, but was urged by the crowds to show her face. She obligingly folded it and smiled at the sea of waving hands. All along the royal route, people stood on the specially erected platforms cheering, many holding up banners which the Queen found ‘touching’.
    The noise from the crowds faded into a hush as the Queen entered Westminster Abbey and once again she felt over whelmed by emotion. More than ever she missed her husband, who would have stood by