Queen Elizabeth II and India
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Contents |
An overview
1947-2022
Sep 10, 2022: The Times of India
NEW DELHI: In 2018, Queen Elizabeth II showed PM Narendra Modi crocheted cotton lace made from yarn that Mahatma Gandhi had spun himself. It was his gift for her wedding on November 20, 1947. The story goes that Gandhi told Lord Mountbatten he wanted to send a wedding gift but had given away all his possessions. Mountbatten, the last governor-general, suggested he spin her some yarn. The yarn was then woven into lace which Mountbatten himself brought to the bride.
Elizabeth was 27 at her crowning on June 2, 1953. Over her almost 70-year rule she visited India thrice, the first time on January 21, 1961. It was a 23-day visit with a 15-day break to tour the two wings of Pakistan.
India gave her a grand reception. TOI reported: “12 miles of humanity massed on either side of the festively-decorated procession from Palam to Rashtrapati Bhavan in the greatest and most dignified welcome Delhi has yet seen. ”
She visited 11 cities, taking in among other things the Republic Day parade in Delhi, the Taj, the Sarnath Lion Capital, elephant processions at Jaipur and Varanasi, a boat trip on the Ganges, palace receptions in Udaipur and a day’s rest in Tipu Sultan’s hill fortress at Nandi. She saw her husband, Prince Philip, bag a tiger at Sawai Madhopur and a crocodile on Udaipur’s lake.
The Queen and Prince Philip visited again from November 17 to 23, 1983. They visited Hyderabad where they stayed at the Rashtrapati Nilayam, the southern home of the Indian President, and visited BHEL that had developed an electric-powered vehicle named ‘electrovan’. On November 20, their 36th wedding anniversary, the royal couple attended services at the Holy Trinity Church in Secunderabad, built in 1846 with contribution from Elizabeth’s great-grandmother, Queen Victoria.
Her last visit to India was in 1997 – the 50th year of India’s Independence, by when India carried “little orno baggage from its colonial past; ‘Her Majesty’ could be just another head of state,” a TOI editorial on October 13, 1997 said.
The royal family, and the Queen herself, were under fire at the time after Princess Diana’s death on August 31 that year. The question of whether the Queen would apologise for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre on her visit to Amritsar was also in the air. But as TOI noted: “it really doesn’t matter either way. Fifty years into our Independence, we don’t need token apologies from our former rulers…. ”
1947, Nov: an honorary doctorate of science!
Achintyarup Ray, TNN, Sep 15, 2022: The Times of India
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From: Achintyarup Ray, TNN, Sep 15, 2022: The Times of India
KOLKATA: November 1947. It had been just three months since the Dominion of India was born. The monarch still was George VI. In England, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary - the future queen - tied the knot with Duke of Edinburgh Philip Mountbatten.
Around 8,000km away, in Calcutta, the principal of a "medical college" decided to confer honorary degrees of doctor of science on the princess and the duke on the occasion of their "marriage ceremony".
Not only that, the Chicago Medical College of Homoeopathy on RG Kar Road sent the certificates straight to Buckingham Palace, without any prior notification.
The Palace, however, was far from amused. More than a month later, Princess Elizabeth's private secretary J R Colville wrote to Captain R Brockman, private secretary to Governor General Lord Mountbatten, apprising him of the issue. "I enclose the letters which refer to this surprising action on the part of the College. No request for acceptances had been addressed to Their Royal Highnesses, and these documents were the first information on the subject that was received," he wrote. The Princess and her husband "were unable to accept Honorary Degrees except in very rare cases and they must therefore regretfully decline this proposal," the letter preserved in the National Archives of India reads.
The deputy private secretary to the governor general (DPSGG), in his note, advised: "I think it would probably be better if H.E. the Governor of West Bengal was asked to handle this matter."
On 6 February, 1948, in a letter to the private secretary to the Bengal governor, Brockman wrote: "I should be grateful if you kindly explain to the President of the Chicago Medical College of Homoeopathy that Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh must regretfully decline the degrees which had been conferred upon them by this College."
The governor of Bengal at that time was C Rajagopalachari. His private secretary S Krishnamurti wrote back: "The Chicago Medical College of Homoeopathy is, so far as can be gathered, an institution of no consequence. I have returned the certificates to the Principal..."
The record books are silent about the reaction of Ananda Mohan Sur, principal and chairman of a "medical college" "Registered by His Majesty's Imperial Govt of India", which had its "registered office" at 22 RG Kar Road, Shambazar, Calcutta.
Visits to India
1961
Express News Service, Sep 10, 2022: The Indian Express
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From: Express News Service, Sep 10, 2022: The Indian Express
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From: Express News Service, Sep 10, 2022: The Indian Express
_reported-_%E2%80%9C12_miles_of_humanity_massed_on_either_side_of_the_festively-decorated_procession_from_Palam_to_Rashtrapati_Bhavan_in_the_greatest_and_most_dignified_welcome_Delhi_has_yet_seen._%E2%80%9D.jpg)
From: Sep 10, 2022: The Times of India
On February 21, 1961, Queen Elizabeth visited several places in Bengaluru, including Lal Bagh, where she planted a Christmas tree.
The British royal family’s Queen Elizabeth II on her first visit to India in 1961 had planted a sapling of a Christmas tree in Bengaluru’s iconic Lal Bagh. After over 60 years, the tree stands 60 feet tall at the garden.
On February 21, 1961, Queen Elizabeth visited several places in Bengaluru, including Lal Bagh. The Queen then stayed at Nandi Hills, 60 km from Bengaluru. She received a grand welcome from then governor and Mysuru state king Jayachamaraja Wodeyar. He was also accompanied by then chief minister B D Jatti and several other officials.
She arrived at the HAL airport and was taken in an open car where public on both sides of the road were standing to catch the glimpse of the Queen. She was also felicitated by the Bible Society of India. As Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip paid a visit to the auxiliary, they were presented with a copy of the Bible in Hindi.
A Gandhian, 77-year-old Vemagal Somashekar, who was just 16-year-old then, recalled that there was a lot of hype around Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Bengaluru. “The roads which Elizabeth took were newly asphalted and some roads were widened. When she went to Nandi Hills, a good road was constructed for her. On MG Road, there was a huge crowd. The entire city was curious about Elizabeth’s lifestyle and the way she looked,” he said. The Queen also took a ride on the Ambedkar Veedhi on which the Vidhana Soudha is located.
“The roads that Queen Elizabeth took were filled with public on both sides. She took MG Road and a few other roads to reach Lal Bagh. The Queen was moving in an open car and waved at the people waiting for her. The vehicle stopped at every junction so that she could wave hands at the people,” Somashekar said.
She then visited Lal Bagh where she planted a Christmas tree (cook pine) to commemorate her visit to the iconic garden built by Mysuru ruler Hyder Ali in 1760. Jagadeesh M, joint director (parks and garden), horticulture department, said it has been recorded that Queen Elizabeth enjoyed her visit to Lal Bagh and also planted a sapling. He added, “The Christmas tree she planted has grown at least 60 feet in the last 61 years. A little away, another Christmas tree planted by Pakistan Freedom fighter Abdul Ghaffar Khan and a Saraca Asoca tree planted by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during separate visits can be found.”
“Then director of horticulture department M H Marigowda had accompanied Queen Elizabeth when she planted the tree and it is recorded in Lal Bagh’s history,” said Jagadeesh.
