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Chapter 1: Who were Louis and Edwina Mountbatten and what was their significance?
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This week on our Empire Club miniseries, we're going to carry on with the story of a scandal that shaped partition. Alex and I are discussing the unconventional marriage between the last Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten, and his wife, Edwina Mountbatten. Now, last week, you'll remember, we set up Nehru's life before he fell in love with Edwina.
This week, we ask, how did the Mountbattens end up in India to begin with? Here's a clip from the episode where we discuss one of Edwina's many affairs of the 1920s and 30s. To access the full series, just head to empirepoduk.com, empirepoduk.com and become a friend of the show.
She was young. She was beautiful. She was rich.
Chapter 2: How did the Mountbattens' unconventional marriage influence their lives?
She was married to someone who wasn't enough for her. She was probably gadding about a bit.
And we put a pin, for instance, in Leslie Hutchinson and Paul Robeson.
Yes, even though these are completely different men.
I'm sure more people know Paul Robeson's name than Hutch Hutchinson, but Paul Robeson, an African-American, huge on both sides of the Atlantic and very political as well. Absolutely.
Paul Robeson, really one of the most important distinguished civil rights activists of his day. Very political, also a communist, also an international activist. also one of the greatest musical stars of his day and a cinema star. You can watch him on screen, incredibly charismatic, extraordinary man.
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Chapter 3: What scandals surrounded Edwina Mountbatten's affairs?
Hutch was a jazz musician, also African-American, also from that sort of background, but not really political in the way Robeson was. He was much more of an entertainer, a legend in entertainment, hugely famous at the time. The reason we're speaking of these two men in one breath they're very different men, is because Edwina was rumoured to have affairs with both of them.
But there was an allegation printed in a newspaper in Britain, which was that basically a sort of royal woman was having an affair with a black entertainer. And this was so scandalous at the time that Buckingham Palace forced Edwina to bring libel proceedings, which she did not want to do.
I mean, that's an unheard of thing because the royals don't like being in the courts. It's really unusual.
But at this stage, you have to remember there was a lot more deference towards the royals. So when this went to court and Edwina actually testified, she so didn't want to.
Chapter 4: Why was Edwina's testimony in court considered controversial?
She didn't want to do any of this. And she testified there and said, you know, I've never met Paul Robeson, which was a lie, by the way. And apparently he was very upset about that. afterwards that she denied it. And it was a sort of very controversial thing. But the newspaper did not defend themselves. They issued a full apology. They said, it's fine, we'll pay whatever damages.
Folded like a pack of cards. I mean, there was no case for the defence, even though it was probably true.
Chapter 5: How did the media react to the allegations against Edwina Mountbatten?
But that's, of course, how this works, because the idea of going up against the royals was impossible. And they offered to pay damages. She actually refused to collect the damages, which I think tells you that she was just... It does, right? Yeah. She did. It's possible she had a first of both of them. Who can say?
She gave Hutch a cigarette lighter engraved with her own initials, which isn't a very good way to hide it.
No. I mean, she's built as a very smart woman.
Chapter 6: What impact did Edwina's relationships have on the political landscape of the time?
This is not a smart move.
She doesn't care. She doesn't care. I mean, you know, she was interested in interesting people. But I have to say, I mean, Robeson, very obviously her type.
So her type and also an interest in Indian politics from Robeson. Absolutely. Because, you know, he not only a communist, not only agitating for sort of miners in Wales here, but the Indian Workers Association. He was like, he was really fascinated with any agitant groups that were challenging the status quo.
I mean, hugely international figure.
Yeah.
You know, so you can definitely see she'd have gone for him.
Yeah.
We really hope you enjoyed that clip from our members' mini-series on the scandal that shaped Partition. To access the full series, just head to empirepoduk.com, empirepoduk.com, become a friend of the show.
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