India Remembered – Pamela Mountbatten

This left my father to decide whether to accept the offer to become G-G of India and therefore go against every non-partisan plan he had stood for in his tenure. Indeed his later acceptance of the governor-generalship of India did tarnish his impartial reputation and kindled persistent rumours that he was anti- Muslim League. A letter to Patricia dated 5th July signalled just how depressed he was with the situation: ‘I have boobed’, he wrote mournfully. It was the only time he admitted it.

Gandhi’s letter sent to my mother on 18th July 1947. My mother (and perhaps Stafford Cripps) was the only person to beg my father to leave India after 15th August. Everyone else advised him – or in the case of Congress begged him – to stay. On 7th July Ismay and Campbell Johnson flew to London to see the Cabinet and get their advice. It was debated in the Cabinet and they agreed he should stay on – as did Churchill and the King.

Back in India, the constant brawling between Congress and the Muslim League meant that two Cabinets had to be set up. My father was at the helm as Chairman, but he was very keen not to be called to arbitrate – again he was certain that India and Pakistan needed to learn to cope with their own problems. Tuesday 1st July I went off round the Bodyguard lines with Mummy and Daddy early in the morning… Daddy gave them a short talk in Hindustani having learnt it up in the bath aloud for days past!

They really are remarkably fine men but slightly shady characters. The other day one came up to Paddy, the Commandant, with the request that he would ‘grant him a small favour’ and say that he had returned from leave one day earlier than in actual fact. He was hotly followed by the police demanding his arrest for murder!

However, it is quite possible that he was framed. The learned speech was typical of my father who would want to touch something in the hearts of the rank and file. Wednesday 2nd July Yesterday the American Ambassador came to present his credentials and have lunch with us. I had a Hindustani lesson and went to the Canteen. Thursday 3rd July I spent most of the morning at the Clinic. Panditji came to lunch with Mrs Pandit. She has been appointed Ambassador to Russia and will be leaving soon.

She is taking Lekha with her which should be fascinating for her as so much is discussed about Russia and so little is really known. Daddy has had a calendar distributed to most offices saying ‘ …days left to transfer of power’, so as to impress it upon the various government departments, as it is horrifying how quickly time passes and 15th August is not very far off now in comparison with what remains to be done.

On New Year’s Day 1947 Lord Mountbatten was summoned to Downing Street to discover his future role in history – to guide India to independence as the last Viceroy. Travelling from post-war Britain under rationing to the outsized splendour of Viceroy’s House in New Delhi, the Mountbattens leapt straight into their responsibilities. Gandhi, Nehru, Jinnah, Patel, Baldev Singh and a wealth of Marahajas all appear in this testament to the biggest challenge faced by a Viceroy – to break the deadlock that existed between the Indian politicians, to try to avert civil war and to achieve an honourable exit for the British.

The result was the creation of India and Pakistan on 15th August 1947. Lord Mountbatten’s seventeen-year old daughter, Pamela, was taken out of school to accompany her parents to India, and spent the next 15 months recording the birth of two nations alongside her own transition to adulthood. Beside her mother, Edwina, this young woman took on far more responsibility than would normally be required of a girl just finding her feet in the adult world.

As an eye-witness, Pamela describes often harrowing scenes, colourful and exotic characters and major historic events, as well as wonderful recollections of her trips around India. India Remembered is a pure evocation of this key period of India and Pakistan’s history. Using diary entries and extracts from the meticulously kept family photo albums as documentary evidence, this book is a brilliantly informative read and a chance to witness first hand a generation of characters whose actions were to change the fate of two nations.

Pamela Mountbatten is the younger daughter of Lord Mountbatten, who was appointed the Last Viceroy of India in 1947. At the age of seventeen she travelled to India with her mother and father, witnessing and playing her role in the dramatic events of India’s hard-fought independence and subsequent partition.

She married the designer, the late David Hicks, and now lives in Oxfordshire in the home they shared together. India Hicks is the granddaughter of the Last Viceroy of India and daughter of Pamela Mountbatten and David Hicks. Having worked as a model around the world, india is now the author of two books, Island Life and Island Beauty and is a creative partner for Crabtree and Evelyn. OceanofPDF.com India Remembered My parents with Nehru on an elephant proceeding to the Mela.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 6c81f356689adc7c
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 14,272,481 bytes (13.611 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 291
• Language: English (en)

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• Total Words: 39,696
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