Now that Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and consort of Queen Elizabeth II, has decided to retire from public life, one has to sift through hazy memories to recall his first visit to India in 1958. On landing at Delhi Airport (there was no Indira Gandhi International Airport then), he remarked that he was surprised on seeing fog in Delhi, probably because he thought it was warm and sultry throughout the year. And who could blame him for this misconception? After all, the closest he had come to India earlier was during World War II when he was in the Royal Navy and his ship had anchored in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) with its all-year tropical climate. Nephew of Lord Mountbatten, last Viceroy and first Governor-General of liberated India, he had not had an opportunity to come during his uncle’s tenure.
The prince’s first outing after landing in Delhi (where he had to attend a conference and later another one in Bangalore) was to Agra to see the Taj. One remembers that quite a few British nationals in the city thought it worthwhile to greet him. Among them was the Rev T.D. Sully, principal of St John’s College, a haft-zaban padre (linguist) who was a mathematician, musician, English language expert, philosopher and, of course, theologian of note. Among those who also trooped in was the cynical Uncle Ceastan of Armenian descent (from Siestan), dressed in late 19th Century clothes like Rudyard Kipling, who read newspapers in the Queen Mary Empress Library in the Cantonments and discussed each item even with passers-by, Mother Joan, Rev Mother in charge of St Joseph’s School, an Irish lady who hadn’t stirred out of the convent for 40 years, and Abid Bhai, given forced retirement as Daroga of the Excise Department after he went daft. Abid Bhai came in Kale Khan’s tonga to meet whom he thought to be “Badshah Salamat”. Curiosity also brought the burqa-clad women from Tajganj who wanted to see Yunan (Greece) ka Shehzada, married to Malika Elizabeth — with pretty Begum Anwar ‘Anardana’ lifting up the niqab to wave to him with her bejewelled hand.
Historic moment
The Duke, wearing a fine Saville Row suit, was the cynosure of attraction of students, both boys and girls. The latter found him very handsome, but Mota Dixit was fascinated with his shoes and the laces he thought were tied to perfection. The Duke was taken around by the chief guide, Islamuddin but the Commissioner of Agra Division, John Stanley Lall, himself a history buff, also helped to explain the mysteries of the Taj. When the Duke heard the sonorous echo in the Cenotaph Chamber he wanted to know whether the same khadims gave the azaan in the Taj masjid and also why there was a mosque facing east on the opposite side of the main one. He was told that the khadims were not muezzins but only the ones who demonstrated the echo of the azaan. The other mosque, it was pointed out, was known as the “Jawaab” and had been built just for the sake of imparting symmetry to the ambience of the monument.
On seeing the Yamuna and being told that it wended its way up to Allahabad, where it met the Ganga and the mythical Saraswati to form the Sangam, the Duke suggested that there should be a lot more water in the river so that besides regular boating the more adventurous could go all the way to the Sangam. He also opined that there should be a bridge connecting the Taj with the Mahatab Bagh, were Shah Jahan wanted to build a black marble Taj.
There were no grand hotels in Agra then but the prince spent the night in the best one from where he could see the Taj. Desmond Doig, the noted journalist who covered his visit, wrote the next day: “Thousands of parrots awake Agra every morning. They probably awoke the Duke for he was up early, sitting on a chair and admiring the rosy tainted hue that enveloped the monument before the sun rose over the Jamuna.” Doig accompanied the Duke on his extended tour and wrote endearingly about night falling on the royal visit: “A policeman throws a stone at a dog, a chakor calls to its mate in the hills.”
Diana, Princess of Wales, sits in front of the Taj Mahal in Agra city, India during a photo opportunity in this file picture taken February 11, 1992. SCANNED FROM NEGATIVE REUTERS/Ulli Michel/Files
When the Duke accompanied Queen Elizabeth on her first visit in 1961 he was able to explain better the nuances of the Taj to her but when Princess Diana came, unfortunately without Prince Charles, purportedly held up in Delhi for some official assignment, she had to sit alone on the Lotus Pond marble seat where the Duke and the Queen had been photographed in a memorable pose. However to make up for Diana’s disappointment her son and daughter-in-law, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton posed on the famed seat years later alright, and perhaps gladdened the hearts of the Queen and her consort, the nonagenarian Prince Philip.
