The Fascinating Love Story of Queen Victoria and Abdul

An Unconventional Love Story

It was not the puppy love that we see these days. It was pure love at a much deeper level based on mutual respect, admiration and integrity transcending all boundaries of culture, wealth, power and geography. Nobody had ever seen anything like that before.

The relationship between Queen Victoria and her handsome, young Indian attendant, Abdul Karim, was considered so scandalous that immediately after the queen died in 1901, her descendants systematically scrubbed away all evidence of it. It was almost as if it was a royal shame committed by the queen meant to be forgotten and pushed deep under the dusty annals of history.

As historian Carolly Erickson wrote in her book Her Little Majesty:

“For a dark-skinned Indian to be put very nearly on a level with the queen’s white servants was all but intolerable, for him to eat at the same table with them, to share in their daily lives was viewed as an outrage.”

The Story of Queen Victoria and Abdul

The historian Shrabani Basu discovered the existence of Karim quite by accident in 2003 when she was visiting Osborne House, the former private home of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on the U.K.’s Isle of Wight. She saw a painting of Karim and was immediately fascinated by his regal dressing in the portrait.

As she tells later,

“He didn’t look a servant. He was painted to look like a nobleman. He was holding a book, looking sideways. Something that about that expression struck me, and when I moved along, I saw another portrait of him looking rather gentle. It was very unusual.”

Her curiosity was piqued as she delved deep into the history of Karim. Who is this Karim and what was his relationship with the queen?

Basu read through the private papers of the Queen’s household and she came to know that the queen had a warm relationship with him and used to call him ‘Munshi,’ a term used for native Indian teachers and accountants. Most of the correspondence was destroyed by the royal household, but Shrabani stuck a pot of gold when she found the diary of Karim which was kept in care by his descendants back in India.

After painstaking research, she was finally able to put together the jigsaw puzzle telling the fabulous story of Victoria and Abdul in her bestselling book Victoria and Abdul: The True Story of the Queen’s Closest Confidant. Later the book was made into a film, Victoria and Abdul, starring Judi Dench as the Queen and Bollywood actor Ali Fazal as Karim.

Basu tells us a very poignant tale of love, affection, respect, and later resentment in her book.

Karim came to England as part of the request of the queen who wanted Indian staff members to help serve at a banquet for heads of state. And Karim became one of the two servants selected and presented to Victoria as a ‘gift’ from India. Karim immediately started his duties at the palace and the queen was almost instantly fascinated by him, as seen in a note she wrote about him to a friend:

“He is never petty and irritable like others and whenever something goes wrong, he simply says ‘god ordered it’ which is really heartening.”

Karim made his first big impression through the monarch’s stomach. His chicken curry along with dal and pilau was so good that the queen made it her regular diet. According to Victoria biographer A.N. Wilson, the queen was so impressed by the dish that she began to show a keen interest in India, the country where the dish originated.

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She expressed her interest to learn Urdu from Karim. The two spent hours, with the queen meticulously filling several notebooks attempting the learn the ‘language of Hindustan’ as she called it.

In order to better communicate with each other, she insisted on Karim’s doubling his English lessons. Slowly, long discussions started between him where Karim explained the nuances of Indian culture and his life back in India. The queen began to spend more time with him than with her family members, as noted in her following description:

“I am so very fond of him. He is so good and gentle and understanding . . . and is a real comfort to me.”

Victoria quickly promoted him to ‘Munshi and Indian Clerk to the Queen Empress’ at a monthly salary of 12 pounds. He was later promoted to her personal secretary. She gave him great privileges like traveling with her throughout Europe, titles, honours, prime seats at operas and banquets, a private carriage, and personal gifts. The queen also took care of Karim’s family members by helping his father get a pension. She also commissioned multiple portraits of Karim.

Was there any physical relationship? The diary does not say so, although they did spend a night in one of the queen’s cottages at Glassat Shiel, a remote cottage in Scotland. Karim filled a deep void in her life, as Basu tells us:

“He spoke to her as a human being and not as the Queen. Everyone else kept their distance from her, even her own children and this young Indian came with an innocence about him. He told her about India, his family, and was there to listen when she complained about her own family.”

The Royals Were Furious

The queen was aware of the animosity of the royals towards Karim and did every bit to protect him. Her royal doctor, Sir James Reid, was openly hostile towards Karim when he said the following to him in his face:

“You are from a very low class and never can be a gentleman. If the queen were to die and any letters of hers were found in your possession no mercy will be shown to you.”

The queen knew there was no future for Karim after her death, and her worst fears were justified upon her death on January 22, 1901. Her son, Edward VII, sent guards into the cottage Karim shared with his wife, seizing and burning all letters he had with the queen.

All the queen’s correspondence in her journal containing any references to Karim were scrubbed off by her daughter, Princess Beatrice. They instructed Karim to return to India immediately, without fanfare or farewell.

Karim would spend the remainder of his life in relative obscurity as his episode became a little-known scandal meant to be forgotten and not to be discussed within the royal circles. And it took the western world a little more than 100 years to know about the touching, special relationship between Queen Victoria and her Indian servant Abdul Karim.

As Basu tells us,

“The thing is, it’s not fiction — it’s fact. This happened. Queen Victoria learned Urdu, and she stood by Abdul Karim. It sounds like a fantasy, but it isn’t.”

Sources

• Victoria & Abdul: The True Story of the Queen’s Closest Confidant by Sharbani Basu
• Her Little Majesty Carolly Erickson
• Victoria and Abdul: The Friendship that Scandalized England | Smithsonian Magazine
• Victoria and Abdul: The Truth About the Queen’s Controversial Relationship | Vanity Fair
• Victoria and Abdul Author on the Movie’s Unlikely Story: ‘It Sounds Like a Fantasy' | Time

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.

© 2021 Ravi Rajan

Comments

Ravi Rajan (author) from Mumbai on April 22, 2021:

Thanks for your comments Linda.

Linda Crampton from British Columbia, Canada on April 22, 2021:

Thank you for sharing this information. I’ve known about the relationship between Queen Victoria and Abdul for some time, but you’ve increased my knowledge. The way in which Abdul was treated after Victoria’s death is so sad.