London, February 27: Abdul Karim was a 24-year-old Indian servant of Queen Victoria, who gained her affection in the final 15 years of her reign. Their relationship sent shock -waves through the royal court, and ended up being one of the most scandalous periods of her 64-year-reign.
But, a new archive of letters, pictures and Karim”s “lost diary”, held secretly by his family for over a century, sheds new light on the controversial relationship between the Queen and the youth from Agra who rose from a royal waiter to becoming her decorated Indian secretary.
In fact, Indian author Shrabani Basu has discovered the documents after penning ”Victoria & Abdul” — her book on the remarkable relationship between the Queen and her servant, ”The Daily Telegraph” reported.
The documents tell the story of how Karim arrived in England in 1887 and quickly gained the affection of a Monarch 42 years his senior.
“I came to England as orderly to the Queen… It is a much higher position than the orderly of the British Army who is simply a private soldier selected to attend an officer as a personal servant carrying his orders etc,” Karim writes in his personal diary.
-Agencies