In the hazy summer of March 1947, Edwina Mountbatten came to India with her husband, the last viceroy, Lord Louis Mountbatten. Mountbatten had his closet full of war cannons left over from two centuries of British rule in India. In the midst of the pandemic of solving India’s communal problems, handing over power, bringing the autonomous princely states on board, and finally settling what is now considered the greatest massacre of all time – the Partition – Nehru had and Edwina something simmering in the background .
Edwina was described as an introverted woman who rarely spoke to others. Everyone was curious about Edwina’s relationship with Nehru as she only spoke to him at the time.
Nehru and Edwina had developed a close relationship, and it continued even after India gained independence, various reports say. Nehru would write letters to Edwina as long as she lived and Lord Mountbatten was aware of this. Nehru also visited her in Great Britain and stayed as a guest in Hampshire.
Pamela Mountbatten, Edwina’s daughter, read the correspondence between her mother and Nehru after Edwina’s death. Pamela had stated that Nehru and her mother loved each other. According to the book, Daughter of Empire: Life as a Mountbatten, first published in 2012 in the United Kingdom, Pamela claimed that Edwina and Nehru were in love, but not in a physical relationship. The emotional and deep bond they had was beyond the average man, according to Pamela.
In the years that followed, the diary of Nehru’s secretary, KF Rustam, was compiled and published as a book. It alluded to the love of Nehru and Edwina.
It also mentions Nehru’s affection for other women. According to Rustam, Padmaja, Sarojini Naidu’s daughter, also had contact with Nehru. Padmaja had a great sense of humor and wanted to take care of Nehru.
In an earlier interview, Alex von Tejman, author of Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire, said that Padmaja once angrily threw a picture frame at Edwina. However, the two later became good friends. Nehru likes intelligent women, Tezman claimed.
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