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Documentary, Queen Victorias Last Love
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00:01In 1897, Britain celebrated Queen Victoria's
00:05Diamond Jubilee, 60 years on the throne.
00:09But the show of pomp and majesty on London's streets
00:12concealed a very different royal story.
00:16Behind palace gates, a secret war was raging
00:19over Queen Victoria's shocking relationship with a servant.
00:24Some said he was on the make,
00:27others that he was a spy.
00:29But worst of all, he was an Indian.
00:33It was a relationship that violated Victorian taboos of race and class
00:38and set the Queen on a collision course with her royal household
00:42who made their feelings plain.
00:44You are an imposter.
00:46You are from a very low class and can never be called a gentleman.
00:50This just enraged Victoria.
00:53The worse the attacks got, the more she defended him.
00:56There was a place for everyone
00:58and everyone had a place.
01:00But Karim didn't have a place.
01:02If one knew him today, he would be a pain in the arse.
01:07Abdul was not greedy.
01:09Abdul was brown.
01:11And therefore he was a threat.
01:13And the Queen loved him more than she loved them.
01:16That really is what it was about.
01:18This is a tale of love and loathing at the heart of the British court.
01:23Over the extraordinary relationship between the most powerful Empress on earth
01:28and her Indian servant Abdul Karim.
01:31In June 1887, in the 50th year of Queen Victoria's reign, a tall handsome stranger walked into the Queen's life.
01:52And ten years of trouble began.
01:57Abdul, when he was young, when he first appeared at court, looked wonderful.
02:01Queen Victoria always had a great appreciation of male beauty.
02:05And so when she saw these gorgeous clothes and sashes and turbans kissing her feet, how could she resist them?
02:14Abdul Karim was one of two Indian servants who had arrived as gifts from Her Majesty's Indian Empire.
02:21His role was to serve as the Queen's kitmagar, or table hand.
02:26But Victoria soon found Abdul was a man of many talents.
02:30We don't know exactly what Abdul said in that first year when he starts to really come to her attention.
02:37All we know is that somehow he must have appealed to her romantic interest in the Orient.
02:46He started to tell her stories of India, and that hooked her.
02:55As the Empress of India, Victoria had long been fascinated by the most exotic and important jewel in her crown.
03:03The dangers of the long sea voyage made a visit to India impossible.
03:07But now Abdul brought India to her.
03:11I think Victoria was just enchanted and enraptured with the idea of being Empress of India.
03:17He told her stories about India, fables about India.
03:23India for her was exotic.
03:25It was a place of spices and saris and a place of peacocks.
03:30It was the India of her imagination, which is a colourful and gay and exotic space.
03:36And Abdul satisfied her imaginative curiosity.
03:42She really desperately wanted to know about her empire.
03:47He certainly would have given her aspects of Muslim history.
03:50And one of the great stories of Indian Mughal history is, of course, Shah Jahan, the Emperor.
03:56And that's how the Taj Mahal was built.
03:59She must have fallen for those great romantic tales.
04:05Young Abdul didn't just feed the Queen's romantic imagination.
04:14Within a few weeks of his arrival, he was also adding some zing to the royal taste buds.
04:20Evidence of Karim's kitchen revolution is recorded in the archives at Osborne House.
04:29Her Majesty's favourite residence on the Isle of Wight.
04:33Well, this is a ledger and it gives a fantastic account of the mountains of food that were consumed here.
04:42The influence of Abdul Karim is very clear.
04:45In the luncheon menu here, for instance, every Sunday at lunchtime there was always a curry dish provided on the menu.
04:55And here, May 13th of February, it was a chicken curry.
05:0120th of August, 1887, had some excellent curry prepared by one of my Indian servants.
05:12And we know that Abdul Karim and some of the Indian attendants cooked these curries.
05:18They prepared the meat and procured their own spices and so on.
05:22And were given a corner of the main kitchen here at Osborne where they could, you know, prepare these authentic curry dishes.
05:31I suspect she rather enjoyed it.
05:35With Karim in her kitchens, the Queen's palaces were transformed into some of Britain's first and finest curry houses.
05:44But Abdul had ambitions to be more than just a novelty chef.
05:49Given his class background, which was fairly humble, I think most people in that position would have been fairly reticent.
05:58Abdul Karim was not.
06:00What he says to the Queen is that he is a very educated man to the point of implying that he can be a teacher.
06:09Abdul was eyeing promotion.
06:13And in Queen Victoria, the would-be teacher found an eager pupil.
06:18At the age of 68, the Queen was a figure of great authority and much revered by her subjects.
06:26But her private life was marked by tragedy.
06:30Victoria had never fully recovered from the death of her beloved German husband, Prince Albert.
06:35For two decades, John Brown, her Scottish servant, had been the Queen's most intimate male companion.
06:42But in 1883, Brown died.
06:46And in Abdul Karim, the Queen found the ideal replacement.
06:51He was a very warm man.
06:54He was very entertaining.
06:57He was jolly.
06:58He was a very human person as such.
07:01And maybe those were the traits that attracted the Queen to him eventually.
07:10Because he was a man who came across as a man of flesh and blood.
07:14And I don't think she was used to real people around him.
07:17She wanted somebody with whom she could relate directly.
07:22And she craved this kind of intimacy.
07:26You know, this is that famous quote.
07:28After Albert dies, she says, there's nobody who can call me Victoria now.
07:32Certainly, she was very needy.
07:36She was emotionally hungry.
07:38And she grew up without a father and with a mother that she believed didn't love her.
07:43She did not have an easy childhood at all.
07:46So, in later life, what she really, really needed was someone to give her unconditional attention.
07:53In Abdul Karim, she found a man ready, willing and able to provide it.
08:00Just weeks after Abdul's arrival at court, the Queen made a startling announcement.
08:06I am learning a few words of Hindustani.
08:10Young Abdul teaches me.
08:12He's a very strict master and a perfect gentleman.
08:17No more pots and pans for Abdul.
08:20The 24-year-old kitchen boy was now to be known as the Queen's Munchi, or teacher.
08:28Entrusted with the honour of instructing the monarch in the official language of her Indian subjects.
08:35For the rest of her life, the Queen kept a daily record of her studies in a series of journals.
08:42Well, here we have an example from the Queen's Hindustani diary.
08:49The day was very fine. The Shah of Persia came to see me today with some of his ministers at 2 o'clock.
09:10The script has been written with a certain amount of fluency.
09:15In a very enthusiastic way, she's trying to come to grips with something which is actually very alien.
09:23And the skill that is needed for that to be done at a competent level is going to be very, very significant.
09:33So what I see is actually I'm very impressed with what she was able to achieve only what about a year after she had started learning Hindustani.
09:44Over the years, the Queen's Hindustani journals would become a secret channel of communication between the monarch and her Munchi.
09:53Some of the vocabulary seems quite suggestive.
09:57It's things like, the Queen will miss Abdul, translate.
10:03Give me a hug, translate.
10:05I don't think it is actually that.
10:06But it's stuff that seems quite personal and intimate that they felt the need to be able to say to each other.
10:12With his daily doses of Hindustani, his tales from the Taj and his mango chutney, Abdul had become the Queen's undisputed favourite.
10:25And she didn't care who knew it.
10:28Abdul was kind of like a pet, really, like a beautiful tiger or something, walking along beside the Queen.
10:35And sometimes when they were on the continent, people were quite confused about who he was because he would follow her carriage in his own carriage.
10:45And it was said in France, for example, that he was a captured Indian prince that she paraded around just to show the might of the British Empire.
10:59But not everybody was so taken with the palace new boy.
11:04On entering royal service, Abdul had landed in a world governed by strict codes of class and protocol.
11:12At the top of the court hierarchy were the ladies and gentlemen of the royal household.
11:18When Abdul arrived at the English court, it was like entering a labyrinth with layers and layers of people going out and out and out.
11:27At the heart of it are the lords and ladies in waiting.
11:31These are aristocrats.
11:32Then you get the actual servants who do the cooking and cleaning.
11:35So, the idea that somebody who is a servant, who is an outsider, who has none of this pedigree, none of this background, can suddenly leapfrog into a position of great closeness to the Queen, is something that they find, well, not only threatening, but wrong.
11:52Abdul soon found himself at odds with the royal household, led by the Queen's private secretary, Sir Henry Ponsonby, and Her Majesty's doctor, Sir James Reid.
12:05The household had never been used to Indian servants, and they really didn't like it.
12:14Sir James had to deal with them medically, but there was much more to it than that.
12:22Because the Queen was obsessed by their clothes and comfort.
12:29She was always worrying, and Sir James had to have special tweeds made for them, but they had to be in Indian styles, because she wanted them to look exotic.
12:43She gave Henry Ponsonby a dictionary, which I can just see his wry face.
12:48You know, I can imagine him going back to the family and saying,
12:51Oh, she's given me a, imagine, she's given me a Hindu standard dictionary.
12:54I've got to learn Urdu now.
12:57Had Abdul just been pleased or happy with his position as a kitbagar, which is a waiter at table and all that, they mightn't have minded so much.
13:10But it was that he was getting special treatment.
13:14The palace simmered with quiet rage over the servant who didn't know his place.
13:20But the discontent was about to boil over into an unprecedented civil war between the Queen and her own court.
13:33Christmas, 1887.
13:35At Osborne House, the Queen's staff and family were looking forward to the traditional highlight of the festive season.
13:44There is this rather strange form of Victorian house party entertainment.
13:49I think it's a shame that it's fallen by the wayside, the tableau.
13:53What you do is that you get all your unwilling family and friends, you get them to dress up, you build your own scenery.
14:08But it doesn't really matter if nobody can act or sing.
14:11You just arrange yourselves into a sort of staging of an old master painting.
14:23Or a biblical scene.
14:27And they're all sorts of, you know, people carry props representing this, that and the other.
14:32And then slightly wonky palm trees in the background.
14:36The Royal Amdrams had been a fixture in the household from the early years of Victoria's marriage.
14:4525 years on, the Queen's children were still providing the on-stage talent.
14:49As were the aristocrats of the royal household.
15:04Usually the more important positions in the theme would be held by the more important people than the members of the royal family.
15:12The arrival of Abdul Karim and the Indian servants changed everything.
15:20Once Victoria had the Indians at Osborne, this was a great boon for the staging of Tablet.
15:27Because now they could do scenes from the East and that sort of thing with genuine looking characters.
15:33You know, if you needed wise men for a nativity scene, here you had them.
15:38Straight from the East, the real thing.
15:41It wasn't only the royal repertoire that was transformed by Karim's arrival.
15:48With each performance, Abdul himself inched closer to the limelight.
15:54It's quite interesting to chart his rise to power from the early ones where he's a kind of an extra.
16:02Just a servant in the background.
16:04But as time goes on, he gets promoted, if you like.
16:07This was something I think he was known to be very fond of.
16:20I understand he used to be the main star, the director, the overall and be all.
16:26There's one called the King of Egypt, where he's on a throne.
16:36He has his own slaves fanning him.
16:39He's clearly the top guy now.
16:41This man was a waiter, but here he is as the King of Egypt.
16:47And although it was only on the stage, you know, it actually meant something in real life too.
16:51The costumed capers mirrored a real life palace promotion.
16:58By 1894, Abdul was already a regular presence at royal receptions.
17:04Now he was to be officially elevated by Queen Victoria to the position of Her Majesty's Indian secretary.
17:14As for Abdul Karim, the Queen can never praise him highly enough.
17:19He is zealous and attentive, a thorough gentleman in feelings and manners.
17:25Karim had crossed a line, no longer a mere servant.
17:32He was now elevated into the top rank of the palace hierarchy as a member of the royal household itself.
17:40The Queen's gentlemen were not amused.
17:44In the household at the time, status is terribly important.
17:48And someone who came from India who was Indian probably wouldn't have held positional rank below stairs above the most junior parlor maids, house maids and junior boot boys.
18:01And so suddenly, when the Queen chooses this individual and places him not just in a position of special servant to her, but ultimately as her private secretary, this really upset everyone.
18:15Karim was not only overturning the established order inside the royal household.
18:22He was also about to fall out with the most powerful man in the empire, the Viceroy of India himself.
18:32It all started with a Christmas card.
18:35Hearty greetings to His Excellency the Earl of Elgin to wish you a happy Christmas from M.H. Abdul Karim at Windsor Castle.
18:50Flowerets fair as the morning light, weak for you, the earth be white.
19:00With hearts of gold and a breath of merry and a wish from my heart to yours today.
19:08But it's hardly likely the earth was going to be white.
19:12Never mind.
19:14At the Viceroy's mansion in Calcutta, Abdul's attempt to ingratiate himself cut no ice.
19:23For somebody to start writing in that very personal way to the Viceroy of India, an aristocrat of incredible standing, was extraordinary.
19:33Imagine it, you've been made Viceroy of India, you're dealing with the massive problems of the subcontinent.
19:41You're constantly dealing with people at the highest level of that society.
19:45And then suddenly, out of the blue, a Christmas card arrives from Abdul Karim.
19:50What do you do with it?
19:52Why has he written it?
19:54Who is he?
19:55Good.
19:57Well the Christmas is important.
20:00It was very much a family thing.
20:03And an intrusions from outside was, wasn't, not I, I think, really exp exported.
20:12I just don't think that anybody really felt
20:15that you really ought to use Christmas
20:18for sending some sort of a greeting.
20:20Why not just send an ordinary letter?
20:22It was wrong and difficult therefore to make a reply
20:29and it was better overlooked.
20:35I don't think it was a question of snobbery or anything like that.
20:38It was just incomprehensible somehow.
20:43Karim's card was returned and quietly buried
20:46in government files in Whitehall.
20:48When Queen Victoria learnt of the slight,
20:51she leapt to Abdul's defence.
20:54Victoria liked to stir things up, I mean, you know.
20:58We know this because although she knew that the Viceroy despised Abdul,
21:03she insisted that the Viceroy should reply.
21:06You know, and the Viceroy was perplexed.
21:08He would not deign to write a lower creature from the lower orders,
21:14but he had to respond, you know.
21:18There was a place for everyone and everyone had a place.
21:21But Karim didn't have a place.
21:25And so it made life complicated.
21:29An intruder.
21:31Any dirt that sort of got into the machinery,
21:35it was difficult to know how to remove it.
21:38The Christmas card fiasco and Karim's promotion as the Queen's secretary
21:44stung the royal household into attack.
21:49They used as a weapon Lord Elgin's former assistant Fritz Ponsonby,
21:54the son of Victoria's private secretary.
21:56Fritz had been dispatched to Abdul's hometown of Agra.
22:09His mission?
22:11To investigate Karim's family credentials.
22:14And he came up with some powerful ammunition.
22:17At court, Abdul had given the impression
22:25that his father was a high-flying Surgeon General in the Indian Army.
22:30The truth was rather less glamorous.
22:37Abdul was, let's say, slightly economical with the truth
22:41about his family background.
22:43And he pretended that his father had had a position in the Indian Army,
22:47had been a glamorous surgeon.
22:49Fritz Ponsonby discovers that Abdul's father was, in fact,
22:53a lowly apothecary at the jail in Agra.
22:59And that Abdul's background was not nearly as exalted as Abdul pretended.
23:05Ponsonby's inquiries revealed that Abdul was the second of six children
23:10from a family of decidedly modest means.
23:14His father was a Hakim, or native doctor, at Agra Jail.
23:19A young man of limited education,
23:21Abdul had also been employed at the jail as a lowly clerk.
23:26But used his father's connections with the British authorities
23:29to push himself forward for royal duty.
23:33When news reached the British court, the feathers began to fly.
23:37Here was a man who, in the view of the Victorian,
23:41was of a very low class.
23:43And in the view of the Victorian, was from a lesser race.
23:49By your presumption and arrogance,
23:51you've created for yourself a situation
23:54that can no longer be permitted to exist.
23:57You are an impostor.
24:02On the subject of your origin,
24:04we have a certificate from India about your father.
24:08You are from a very low class
24:10and can never be called a gentleman.
24:12To be called secretary is perfectly ridiculous.
24:20Abdul's embellishment of his past
24:22deepened the household's hostility.
24:24But the Queen Empress herself
24:26took a radically different view.
24:29As the household began
24:30to make their attacks on Abdul,
24:32researching his family background,
24:34saying he'd made grandiose claims,
24:36saying he was dishonest and that sort of thing,
24:38this just enraged Victoria.
24:40The worse the attacks got,
24:41the more she defended him.
24:44The Queen comes out with an interesting statement
24:47for the time, that it's race prejudice.
24:50Because there were a lot of people at the time
24:52who thought that,
24:53well, the world is organized into races
24:56and some are better than others.
24:58I mean, this was an era of social Darwinism.
25:02So, she was definitely taking a stand on that.
25:08To make out the Munshi is low
25:10is really outrageous.
25:13Abdul feels cut to the heart
25:15had been thus spoken of.
25:17The Queen is so sorry
25:19for the poor Munshi's sensitive feelings.
25:25Under royal protection, Abdul prospered.
25:29The Queen gave him not one,
25:30but three houses
25:32at Balmoral, Windsor
25:34and this one in the grounds at Osborne.
25:38She brought Karim's Indian wife
25:40to live at court
25:41and even offered intimate marital advice.
25:46My dear Abdul,
25:48I spoke to Dr. Reid about your dear wife.
25:51It may be she has twisted something inside
25:54which would account for things
25:56not being regular.
25:59I have had nine children myself
26:01and there is nothing I would not do
26:03to help you both.
26:05As the Queen's favourite
26:07and as an Indian,
26:09Karim was almost universally despised
26:12by Victoria's staff and family.
26:14And it wasn't only the colour of his skin
26:16that made Abdul the subject
26:18of bitter resentment.
26:20If one knew him today,
26:22he would be a pain in the arse.
26:25He was pompous,
26:26conceited,
26:27you can see it in his face
26:29and absolutely did not think
26:32of knowing his place.
26:34He pushed for whatever he could get
26:37and he was a bit of a rogue.
26:38He was so pushy
26:40and he was always trying
26:42to get more and more.
26:43You know,
26:44he got a huge amount of money
26:46out of the Queen.
26:47Obviously,
26:48you know,
26:48he got a bit too big
26:49for his boots.
26:50You know,
26:51he wanted to be given
26:53his,
26:54what he considered
26:55his correct status.
26:56And when he was on the train,
26:59he wanted to have
27:00a whole carriage for himself.
27:02I mean,
27:03he always wanted to be the top.
27:06And then the other Indian servants
27:08didn't like him either
27:09because he was domineering
27:11and unkind to them.
27:13He certainly doesn't
27:16come out of it terribly well.
27:18He was manipulative.
27:20He simply abused the dignity
27:23in a way that he should have
27:25had as a personal servant
27:29to the Queen.
27:30He abused it.
27:36Karim was so confident
27:37of his own importance
27:38that by the era
27:39of Victoria's Diamond Jubilee,
27:40he appeared to regard himself
27:42not as her majesty's servant,
27:44but as her master.
27:47In October 1897,
27:50a photograph is published
27:52in the graphic
27:53of Queen Victoria
27:55sitting at a table
27:56with Abdul standing
27:58right in the center
27:59of the photograph.
28:00So the Queen
28:01in the photograph
28:02is a little old lady
28:03with a rather bent back.
28:04Abdul is looking
28:06straight to camera,
28:07a strong, big, solid figure
28:10and much more dominant
28:12than the Queen.
28:13And the whole sort of
28:14iconography
28:15of the photograph
28:16suggests that the Queen
28:18is basically subservient.
28:20At every level
28:21the photograph seems
28:23to offend ideas
28:24about hierarchy.
28:25This photograph
28:26produced absolute
28:27sort of horrified reaction
28:28and I think it's important
28:29to make the point
28:30that Abdul organizes
28:32for this photograph
28:33to be taken
28:34and also, I think,
28:35sent it to the press.
28:36In their efforts
28:38to rid themselves
28:39of the upstart Indian,
28:41Abdul's enemies
28:42had failed
28:43to make his character,
28:44his class
28:45or his race
28:46count against him
28:47in the Queen's eyes.
28:50As her diamond jubilee
28:51approached,
28:52they hit upon
28:53a powerful new weapon,
28:54Abdul's religion.
28:56In 1891,
29:06Abdul Karim set out
29:08for the short drive
29:09from Windsor
29:10to the sleepy village
29:11of Woking.
29:15He was on a visit
29:16to a controversial
29:17new building,
29:18the first of its kind
29:21in Britain.
29:22The Queen's munchie,
29:25Abdul Karim,
29:26went on Sunday
29:27to his devotions
29:28at the Mohammedan
29:29mosque at Woking.
29:30This custom
29:31he observes
29:32every year
29:33and is met
29:33by Mohammedans
29:34from all parts
29:35of England
29:35who come to see
29:36the munchie
29:37and join him
29:37in prayers.
29:40Britain's first
29:41purpose-built mosque
29:42had opened
29:43its doors for business
29:44in 1889.
29:47But that didn't mean
29:48Victorian Britain
29:49welcomed Muslims.
29:52Across the globe,
29:53Britain's imperial interests
29:55were in conflict
29:56with Islam.
29:57There were military
29:58adventures
29:59in Egypt
30:00and the Sudan.
30:01Tensions in the Middle East
30:02with the Ottoman Sultan
30:04and seemingly endless
30:05wars in Afghanistan.
30:07There had been
30:08a certain amount
30:09of fear
30:10of Islam
30:11for centuries.
30:13It became
30:14much, much more
30:15explicit
30:17in the
30:19sort of late 19th century.
30:21so
30:22we have people
30:23like William Gladstone
30:24talking about
30:25the unspeakable
30:26and wicked
30:27Turk.
30:28He referred to
30:29the
30:30Quran
30:31as that
30:32accursed book.
30:34When congregations
30:35actually took place
30:36there were indeed
30:38assaults,
30:39physical assaults,
30:40missiles,
30:41bricks,
30:42people who were
30:43actually worshipping
30:44got badly injured.
30:46with Britain
30:48in the grip
30:49of Islamophobia,
30:50the presence
30:51of a Muslim
30:52within the
30:53inner sanctum
30:54of the Empire
30:55was potential dynamite.
30:56Those responsible
30:58for running
30:59the Empire
31:00soon found cause
31:01to be worried.
31:02the Queen
31:05thinks Mohammedans
31:06do require
31:07more protection
31:08than Hindus.
31:10They are decidedly
31:11and by far
31:12the most loyal.
31:15Abdul Karim was
31:16very influential
31:17on Queen Victoria's
31:18view of India.
31:20She seems to take
31:21a decided pro-Muslim
31:22stance.
31:23in particular
31:25there's
31:26a clash
31:27of festivals
31:28and
31:30she actually
31:31suggests
31:32to the Viceroy
31:33that he should
31:34cancel the Hindu
31:35festival.
31:36And the Viceroy's
31:37reply
31:38is to
31:39point out
31:40that this would
31:41be just as difficult
31:42to do
31:43as cancelling
31:44Christmas in England.
31:46Karim was not
31:47only feeding
31:48the Queen
31:49with inflammatory
31:50advice
31:51over religious
31:52tensions in India.
31:53increasingly
31:54he was seen
31:55as a security
31:56risk
31:57in his own right.
31:59As the Queen's
32:00secretary
32:01Karim had access
32:02to secret
32:03documents
32:04on vital matters
32:05of foreign policy
32:06in Russia,
32:07Afghanistan
32:08and the Middle East.
32:10Government officials
32:11feared he was
32:12feeding state secrets
32:13to Britain's enemies
32:14in the Islamic world.
32:16One of his jobs
32:17is to blot
32:18her signature
32:19as she writes
32:20her endless letters.
32:21But when people
32:22start saying, Abdul,
32:23is allowed to read
32:24the letters of
32:25Lord Elgin
32:26with important
32:27information about
32:28the running
32:29of the great empire
32:30then this is
32:31new territory
32:32I think.
32:33For a personal
32:34servant to be close
32:35to the monarch
32:36is one thing,
32:37for him to get involved
32:38in politics
32:39is another.
32:40what it was of course
32:41was whether Karim in fact
32:42could read
32:43and nobody really
32:45ever resolved
32:46that one.
32:47But at the same time
32:50of course
32:51grandfather had to
32:52arrange for
32:53a certain amount
32:54of surveillance
32:56of a most
32:57careful nature.
33:00in 1896, Abdul set sail
33:06for India
33:07on his annual holiday.
33:10But he was not alone.
33:12The Munchi is coming out.
33:14I'm not sure about
33:15the exact date
33:16but about this time.
33:18But we should like to know
33:21if any of the intriguers
33:22in native states
33:23and elsewhere
33:24make any attempt
33:25to approach him.
33:27Do what you can
33:29with as little stir
33:30as possible.
33:35Tipped off by the Viceroy
33:36intelligence officers
33:38were following
33:39Abdul's every move.
33:40Karim's name
33:43even appeared
33:44on a secret dossier
33:45monitoring
33:46the political views
33:47of every prominent
33:48Muslim
33:49in the UK.
33:53But the Munchi
33:54was no militant.
33:55British agents
33:56concluded
33:57that on his holiday
33:58Abdul was plotting
33:59nothing more
34:00than his own
34:01enrichment.
34:07Karim had traveled
34:08to India
34:09to take ownership
34:10more than 140 acres
34:11of prime
34:12government land
34:13in Agra.
34:14A gift
34:15from the Queen
34:16as a reward
34:17for his loyal service.
34:19It was land
34:20that made
34:21Karim's family
34:22one of the richest
34:23and most powerful
34:24in the region.
34:28This whole area
34:29was allotted to him.
34:31He came with
34:32two ships load
34:33of gifts
34:34from England
34:35and very nice
34:37gifts from England
34:39and the whole area
34:41was known as
34:42Karim Lodge.
34:47Now we enter
34:48his home.
34:53This is the
34:54original room
34:57where he used
34:58to receive
34:59his guests.
35:00He was
35:01very important
35:02person.
35:03I am
35:04true that even
35:05the governor-general
35:06also came here.
35:08On his trips
35:09home the man
35:10who had left
35:11India as a humble
35:12waiter now enjoyed
35:13the libertine
35:14lifestyle of a
35:15Maharaja.
35:16culture.
35:17His life was
35:18very lively.
35:19He loved
35:20music and
35:21dances,
35:22wines.
35:23He was very fond
35:24of arranging
35:25festivals and
35:26parties here
35:27and he used
35:28to arrange
35:29dances
35:30of beautiful
35:31women.
35:32And all the
35:33time there
35:34was a drink
35:35going on
35:36and he loved
35:37music.
35:38music and
35:39then he used
35:40to take
35:41these big
35:42people hunting.
35:43But
35:45Victoria couldn't
35:46last for long
35:47without her
35:48Abdul.
35:49By
35:501897 the
35:51Queen had become
35:52completely
35:53dependent upon
35:54him.
35:55To the almost
35:56total exclusion
35:57of her own
35:58staff and
35:59family.
36:00As the
36:01diamond jubilee
36:02approached,
36:03Karim took his
36:04place at
36:05Her Majesty's
36:06side.
36:07The world
36:08were beside
36:09themselves over
36:10the pair's
36:11growing intimacy.
36:12I think
36:13Queen Victoria
36:14actually loved
36:15Abdul as
36:16a son.
36:17We know
36:18from her
36:19letters,
36:20they were
36:21deeply affectionate
36:22her letters
36:23to him.
36:24And they were
36:25signed,
36:26Your loving
36:27mother.
36:28And so
36:29therefore,
36:30Abdul was
36:31there and
36:32he became
36:33like her son.
36:34When Abdul
36:35became ill,
36:36in his bedroom,
36:37this is the Queen,
36:38going into
36:39the bedroom
36:40of a servant
36:41twice a day.
36:42She would
36:43sort of, you know,
36:44straighten his pillows
36:45and sort of
36:46stroke his hand
36:47and make sure
36:48that his fever
36:49was, you know,
36:50you know,
36:51held his forehead,
36:52etc.
36:53And this
36:54was breaking
36:55all sorts
36:56of sort
36:57of taboos.
36:58of a
36:59death.
37:01But
37:02Abdul's
37:03life of
37:04luxury
37:05had left him
37:06increasingly
37:07plagued
37:08by illness.
37:09In 1897,
37:10at the start
37:11of Victoria's
37:12Diamond Jubilee
37:13year,
37:14the Queen's
37:15doctor,
37:16Sir James
37:17Reid,
37:18seized his
37:19opportunity
37:20to strike.
37:21Dr. Reid,
37:22who was
37:23charged with
37:24looking after
37:25Abdul,
37:26told the
37:27household
37:28that Abdul
37:29had what
37:30he called
37:31glee,
37:32which was his
37:33name for,
37:34I think,
37:35gonorrhea.
37:36It's extraordinary
37:37when you think
37:38about it, really,
37:39that Dr. Reid
37:40should have
37:41breached
37:42this fact.
37:43But he did.
37:45And when
37:46the household
37:47are told,
37:48this is totally
37:49unacceptable,
37:50this is really
37:51the last straw.
37:52For the members
37:53of the royal household,
37:54consorting with an
37:55Indian was bad
37:56enough.
37:57Consorting with a
37:58diseased Indian
37:59was beyond the
38:00pale.
38:02Drastic measures
38:03were called
38:04for.
38:05As the
38:06household prepared
38:07for their
38:08traditional Easter
38:09break in the
38:10south of France,
38:11queen's lady
38:12of the bedchamber,
38:13Harriet Phipps,
38:14to deliver
38:15an ultimatum.
38:17The household
38:18said, look,
38:19if Abdul's coming
38:20to France with us
38:21this year,
38:22then we resign.
38:23We don't want him.
38:24And the queen
38:25flies into a
38:26wonderfully,
38:27a rage that only
38:28a monarch is
38:29allowed to do.
38:30She was in such a
38:31rage, she swept
38:32all the papers
38:33off her desk.
38:34So it would have
38:35made a wonderful
38:36bang, all of this
38:37stuff going on the
38:38floor.
38:39It was a physical
38:40time.
38:41In the face of the
38:42royal tantrum,
38:43the household was
38:44forced into a
38:45humiliating
38:46climb down.
38:47Desperate to bring
38:48an end to the
38:49Munchy mania,
38:50Victoria's own son,
38:52Bertie, the Prince
38:53of Wales,
38:54now stepped into
38:55the fray with an
38:56unprecedented attack
38:57on the monarch
38:58herself.
38:59In 1897, the world
39:04came to London.
39:06From across the
39:11empire, representatives
39:12of Her Majesty's
39:13colonies arrived for
39:14the diamond jubilee.
39:15But as the queen's
39:19family and staff
39:20prepared for the
39:21ceremonies, the palace
39:23was mired in crisis
39:24over the monarch and
39:25her Munchy.
39:29So it's 2012, it's
39:31the queen's diamond
39:32jubilee and the
39:33Olympic Games, and
39:34all the world are
39:35coming to London.
39:36You've got to think
39:37of 1897 and Queen
39:38Victoria's diamond
39:39jubilee as the same
39:40kind of scale of
39:42occasion.
39:43All the eyes of the
39:45world were going to
39:46be on London, and
39:47most of the world
39:48had come to London.
39:49It was going to be
39:50the biggest thing
39:51that had happened to
39:52the monarchy.
39:53And yet, at the same
39:55time, this was the
39:56year of Munchy
39:57Mania.
39:59With just weeks to
40:00go until the
40:01celebrations, Victoria
40:02and Abdul dropped
40:03a bombshell over the
40:05jubilee honours.
40:08Karim was a goal
40:09getter, and Queen
40:11Victoria was willing
40:12to facilitate this to
40:15a great extent.
40:16I mean, up to the
40:17point that eventually
40:19late in his career,
40:21she is going along
40:25with the suggestion
40:27that he should be
40:28knighted.
40:29After a decade at
40:34court, Karim already
40:35boasted a chest full
40:36of prestigious medals,
40:38gifts from his ever
40:40admiring Queen
40:41Empress, and one from
40:43the German Kaiser.
40:44Queen's ministers, the
40:45prospect of Sir Abdul Karim
40:54was one step too far.
40:57She was in danger of
40:59undermining the monarchy
41:00itself.
41:01If somebody who was the
41:03son of a hospital orderly
41:05could be elevated to the
41:07position of a knight, then
41:09the message it's sending to
41:11all the other Indian
41:12princes is that all these
41:14different gun salutes,
41:16these orders of precedence,
41:18they're meaningless.
41:20Determined to put an end
41:23to the crisis, Abdul's
41:25old adversary, the
41:26Viceroy of India, joined
41:27forces with the Prime
41:28Minister, Lord Salisbury,
41:30to oppose Karim's
41:31knighthood.
41:32Victoria refused to back
41:33down.
41:38Queen Victoria was very
41:39lukewarm about the diamond
41:41jubilee.
41:42She was undergoing, to
41:45borrow a phrase from her
41:46descendant, was her
41:48anus orribilis, a terrible
41:51year.
41:52She refused to wear a crown,
41:54and she, at one point,
41:57threatened to pull out of
41:58the thing altogether.
41:59With the success of the
42:02jubilee hanging in the
42:03balance, in April 1897,
42:05Queen Victoria's son, the
42:07Prince of Wales, stepped
42:08into the fray.
42:09After fraught discussions
42:12with Her Majesty's
42:13Doctor, Sir James Reid,
42:15the pair came up with a
42:16plan.
42:17The following day, Reid
42:19visited the Queen and
42:21made his play.
42:22There are people in high
42:24places who know your
42:26majesty well.
42:28who say to me that the
42:30only charitable explanation
42:32that can be given is that
42:34your majesty is not sane.
42:36And that the time will come
42:38when, to save your majesty's
42:40memory and reputation, it
42:42will be necessary for me to
42:43come forward and say so.
42:45I have seen the Prince of
42:48Wales yesterday.
42:49and he says he's quite made up
42:51his mind to come forward if
42:53necessary, because it affects
42:55the throne.
42:57I think for the household
43:00actually to stand up in this
43:02way is very remarkable.
43:04And I think that perhaps at the
43:05back of their minds, or maybe
43:07at the front of their minds,
43:08is that the Queen is going to
43:10appear in public very shortly.
43:12The monarchy is going to be
43:13exposed to public view with the
43:14jubilee.
43:15So it's important that things
43:17should be in order.
43:19The threat to have the Queen
43:21declared insane appeared to hit
43:23home.
43:24For once in her life, Victoria
43:25admitted defeat.
43:27Abdul would remain plain,
43:29Mr. Karim.
43:31On the 22nd of June 1897, the
43:37palace gates opened and Britain
43:39celebrated the Queen's 60 years
43:41on the throne.
43:49But Victoria had the last laugh.
43:51Throughout the celebrations, the
43:53man who had become her rock
43:55remained at her side, rubbing
43:57shoulders with Indian princes and
44:00European royalty.
44:03Ever the industrious student,
44:05Victoria ended the day with an
44:07entry in her Hindustani journal.
44:27For the remaining four years of
44:29the Queen's life, Victoria and Abdul were
44:32inseparable.
44:36But in 1901, the Queen died.
44:39And Abdul's protection came to an
44:41end.
44:46Just days after the Queen's funeral,
44:48Karim received a visit at his home
44:50on the royal estate.
44:52Abdul and my grandfather were in
44:55Karim Lodge and there was this group
44:58group that came out from the palace.
45:01My grandfather was asked to go into the
45:04cottage and lay his hands on any
45:06documents which had the royal crest
45:09on it.
45:11And I think there was a concerted effort
45:13to erase him.
45:16It was something that he was extremely hurt about.
45:21Karim's treasured collection of letters and mementos from the Queen was destroyed.
45:30He was turned out of his houses and banished to India.
45:34The royal family's treatment of Abdul Karim after Queen Victoria's death was far too heavy-handed and unjustified.
45:44The fact is that he had had this friendship with the Queen.
45:49To deny that friendship was to deny really the last 14 years of the Queen's life.
45:56With Karim's departure, the traditional order and its stuffy harmony were restored in the royal household.
46:04And as for Abdul, he retired to his estates in Agra.
46:17But the local boy made good didn't live to enjoy his celebrity.
46:23The high life had taken its toll on Abdul's health.
46:29He died in 1909 at the age of 46.
46:34This is the last resting place of Hafiz Muhammad Abdul Karim.
46:40He is now alone in the world.
46:43His caste was the highest in Hindustan.
46:46None can compare with him.
46:48I like his chutzpah.
46:51Here's an Indian pushing himself.
46:53And politically, I would say that it's extremely good to cock a snook at the royal household.
47:00When you look at Abdul's sort of meteoric ascent in the court, I think he's a very clever operator.
47:08He's incredibly impressive, actually.
47:11You know, full marks to Abdul.
47:16From one fascinating woman to another,
47:18If you missed Elizabeth Taylor, auction of a lifetime.
47:21Catch it on 4OD.
47:22Worth a bid.
47:23Now, next tonight, a young boy's affliction.
47:25A mole that's grown to cover almost half his body.
47:28His daunting story.
47:29Turtle Boy.
47:30Body shock special.
47:31Coming up.
47:32Coming up.
47:33COMING
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