You are the representative of an ancient royal house that continues to be revered as rulers of a great empire. Please consider whether you should postpone the legitimate investiture of a prince merely because of rumours. Is there justice or law in taking a one-sided decision without direct knowledge of such a serious matter? After talking to my son, whatever decision you take shall be accepted.28
Another rendition of the fable, recorded in the memoirs of the younger son of the Junior Maharani, presents her in a more defiant tone. When told by Willingdon that her son was not fit enough, she replied coldly that she was not aware the British Crown appointed as Viceroys ‘people who do not apply their minds’. This baffled Willingdon, who indignantly asked what she was suggesting. In return the Junior Maharani directed him to meet the Maharajah first, instead of acquiescing to ‘selfish, ulterior motives’, and form a personal opinion on his fitness.29 We are then told that a now wiser Viceroy realised the great merit of the Junior Maharani’s argument, and wrote to the Resident, demanding to see the young Maharajah himself. And when the boy arrived, they spent many days together, dining and playing tennis, until Willingdon, impressed by his many qualities, was moved to exclaim, ‘If this young man is of unstable mind as alleged, so am I!’30 He then decided that a grave prejudice had been perpetrated in denying the Maharajah his legitimate rights, and with a stroke of his pen terminated the Regency, and in the process, the hideous and hated tyranny of the Valiya Koil Tampuran and his favourites. ‘In this way justice was meted out to my brother,’ the Junior Maharani’s younger son would declare, sealing the story with a fittingly dramatic climax.31
This erroneous but compellingly woven sentimental tale has some serious problems that become clear by a simple perusal of official documents. There was, to begin with, no possibility whatever of the Regency becoming a ‘permanency’, for its date of expiry in August 1932 was decided as early as 1928. Similarly, the claim that the Regency was extended because of rumours put out about the Maharajah by jealous detractors, is a convenient fallacy, when the reality was that as early as the summer of 1927 the Junior Maharani was told that, as a matter of general policy, she could expect her son to receive his powers only when he turned nineteen-and-a-half. Furthermore, in 1930, the Maharajah had again been assured that this decision had nothing to do with Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, who was apprised of the extension of her rule at the same time as the Junior Maharani. As for the story, almost definitely apocryphal, that the Viceroy expressed dramatic surprise at seeing that the Maharajah was not mentally unstable, no official record exists of this. The real papers show his response as rather regular, with not the remotest allusion to the boy’s psychological state. The only sources where the aforementioned story is found, then, are the memoirs of the Junior Maharani’s son and a biography of Sir CP written by his granddaughter, both arguably deficient in objectivity.
The true course of events, then, was different. Early in 1931 the Resident and Sethu Lakshmi Bayi were in the midst of correspondence about a proposed all-India tour for the Maharajah upon the conclusion of his training in Mysore later that year. This was planned to cover many British Indian provinces and numerous principalities as well. Following this, the Maharajah was to return to Trivandrum by March 1932 and commence training in the local administration, before being formally placed on the throne with full powers on 16 August, a date deemed especially auspicious as it was the Malayalam new year.32 It was then that Lord Willingdon arrived and took control of the Government of India in Simla, soon after which the Junior Maharani also made her appearance in the hills. Following this, in June 1931, the first intimation to the Resident was made that ‘it has recently been suggested to His Excellency the Viceroy that His Highness the Maharajah of Travancore should be granted ruling powers in March 1932’.33 The headspring of these suggestions was not difficult to guess, for the Junior Maharani had with her the ever-resourceful Sir CP, famous for many years now as ‘the blue-eyed boy’ of Lord Willingdon.34
Sir CP’s influence over the Willingdons was legendary. When the Viceroy was Governor of Madras a decade ago, Sir CP was ‘the uncrowned king of the Madras bar’ and they had worked closely together, forming a lasting friendship.35 In the words of the latter’s biographer, ‘CP had always struck Willingdon as a remarkably adroit administrator’,36 while his own granddaughter would tell that the Viceroy, who was at first hesitant to entertain the Junior Maharani, ‘did so as a good friend of Thatha’s [i.e., grandfather’s]’.37 It was in fact Sir CP who convinced Lord Willingdon that August was somehow not a good month for the Maharajah’s investiture, and that March, only slightly earlier than scheduled, would be better.38 There were also stories about the kind of sway Sir CP possessed over the Viceroy’s wife. As one biographer remarks, albeit disapprovingly, ‘Much was said about Lady Willingdon’s extraordinary interest in CP. Any honour or distinction bestowed on CP was attributed to Lady Willingdon’s influence.’39 Indeed, there was much talk about the Viceroy’s famously imperious wife being positively obsessed with the man. Khushwant Singh noted how Sir CP, ‘a strikingly handsome man, as fair skinned as any Kashmiri, with aquiline features and large drooping eyes’ had many female admirers ‘because he also had the gift for words’.40 Lady Willingdon was supposed to be positively ‘besotted with him’,41 while a more exaggerated memoir claims that he enjoyed ‘long, loving conversations’ with her over the telephone too.42
It was well known that Sir CP, despite an ‘ugly reputation as a womaniser’, probably merely had platonic friendships with these women, including the wife of the Viceroy.43 She, however, was notorious for interference and personal domination over her husband, and a popular joke told that while Lord Willingdon was born to govern India, his wife was born to govern him.44 She had a bizarre love for the colour mauve, which was evidently the secret to winning her favour, with one Maharajah even supplying her appropriately coloured toilet paper as a token of his appreciation.45 When Kasturba Gandhi met her and offered to send her khadi cloth spun by the Mahatma, the Vicereine expressed delight before insisting it should be mauve in colour.46 Lady Willingdon was, moreover, infamous due to her propensity for giving (and taking) favours (and more). When she joined the Viceroy on his visits to princely states, with rulers famous for owning magnificent baubles and gems, ‘Aides carried around a capacious bag with a yawning mouth’ so that she could conveniently appropriate whatever she set her eyes on and liked.47 ‘An expensive gift to Lady Irwin would invite a rebuff,’ one north Indian royal would comment, ‘while Lady Willingdon would drop not very subtle hints about how much she admired the ropes of Basra pearls around the Senior Maharani’s neck. Promptly, but discreetly, the next morning it was sent to Lady Willingdon’s room.’48 With bizarre energy she set out to propagate her family name, having roads, gardens and whatever else she could find, named after an assortment of relations, including her son and a grandfather who never set foot in India. Together, husband and wife happily named and renamed so many places and streets that ‘it took more than half a century for independent India to get them renamed’.49
There is more than a fair possibility that it was the intimate association between the Willingdons and Sir CP that finally lent the Junior Maharani, hitherto snubbed due to intrigues of her own concoction, the ear of the Viceroy. When the Resident was, therefore, asked for his views on advancing the installation of the Maharajah to March instead of August 1932, he responded with some surprise and expressed concern at what seemed to be careless tampering at the hands of a hasty Viceroy uninformed about the antecedents of the Travancore case. In his response he pointed out that several issues would need to be addressed before confirming such a decision. He also noted: ‘When Lord Willingdon was appointed Viceroy, it was freely said in Travancore that with the assistance of [Sir CP] Ramaswami Iyer, the Junior Maharani would succeed in persuading Lord Willingdon to revise Lord Irwin’s decision.’50 No matter how many declarations were made that this had nothing to do with the merits or demerits of the Regency, ‘The
credit for what will be styled the downfall of the present regime and of achieving a complete victory over the Maharani Regent, will undoubtedly be given to the Junior Maharani.’51 Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, he warned, would feel ‘her face has been blackened’ and though ‘Her dignity and courtesy will, however, possibly prevent her from divulging her true feeling,’ she would most certainly be hurt.52 ‘The Maharani Regent,’ Mr Pritchard opined, ‘has given her best’ and had trusted the Government of India all along, and ‘I consider it is up to us to do what is possible to soften what is bound to be her complete eclipse when His Highness gets his powers.’53 Revising the date of termination now would, he felt, be a betrayal of her longstanding faith in and goodwill towards the Government of India.
Mr Pritchard also felt that a change in plans at this late stage would upset the schedule already prepared for the Maharajah’s training. But the Viceroy, it was told, had become ‘very anxious’ to personally carry out the investiture ceremony, also wishing to inspect Cochin Harbour in the course of the same trip (where his wife and he would name the reclamation ‘Willingdon Island’).54 Since the last stage of the Maharajah’s training programme was a tour, he did not feel cancelling it would have any serious impact.55 But the Resident did have a point in that the Maharani’s feelings merited serious consideration; as the Political Secretary put it, she was ‘a lady of great charm and high character’ who had ‘done admirably in circumstances of considerable difficulty’, and so the Government of India were obliged to ‘consider her feelings and position as far as reasonably possible’.56 However, while she had several times been told that her rule would terminate in August 1932, all the same, it was felt that at no point was a guarantee given, and she could be expected to acquiesce in the new decision of the Viceroy ungrudgingly. To protect her sentiments, though, it was suggested that Lord Willingdon pay her a high tribute at the installation durbar. All this having been considered the Viceroy decided that Sethu Lakshmi Bayi’s feelings or expectations ought not to prejudice a decision pertaining to her nephew’s inherent rights.57 It is quite noteworthy that while these discussions were occurring in Simla, the Maharani herself had no clue about what awaited her, and it would be some more days before the Resident gave her the information on 8 July.58
Throughout all this, Sir CP and the Junior Maharani remained with the Willingdons, and the Viceroy formed the opinion that the only matter pending was to ascertain, through a personal interview, whether or not the young Maharajah was trained enough to take over from his aunt.59 It is this decision that was later recast in that popular story about summons to the Maharajah to determine whether he was fit in his mind and psychologically sound, a twist that was intended, arguably, to discredit his aunt. By this time the investiture was moved further up the calendar by a few months, so that it could occur as early as November 1931, i.e., in a matter of about three months, and nine before the Regency was originally intended to conclude. This was because Lord Willingdon apparently just realised that he would be unable to leave Delhi after January 1932 due to a session of the Central Legislative Assembly commencing that month.60 Mr Pritchard was therefore asked to arrange for the Maharajah to reach Simla as soon as possible so that a final decision could be reached, and the Viceroy could thereafter formulate his tour programme to visit Travancore and south India in November that year.61
It was on 2 July that the Resident was asked to send the Maharajah to Simla post-haste. But instead of doing so immediately, he responded on 6 July with his previously stated concerns about the Maharani and waited for further instructions. This was followed by a second telegram from Simla on 7 July noting that his views were being considered but that the Maharajah should be sent right away in any case. The following day Mr Pritchard informed his superiors that as the Maharajah was engaged with the bhadradeepam ceremony in the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple, he would not be free to leave until 17 July. This caused much annoyance to the Viceroy, for his information (presumably from the Junior Maharani) was that this function was not very important.62 Lord Willingdon was not pleased by the delay in the Maharajah’s arrival and even suspected that perhaps ‘adverse influences’ were at work in Trivandrum.63 But the Political Secretary vouched for the integrity of the Resident, informing the Viceroy that Mr Pritchard was perhaps unaware of the great ‘personal interest’ taken by him in this matter.64 It was also soon confirmed that indeed it was not possible for the Maharajah to leave in the middle of the bhadradeepam and that he would arrive as soon as possible later in the month.65
The Resident was duly informed by the Political Secretary that ‘the proposed change of date for investing the young Maharajah is due entirely to Lord Willingdon’s own convenience [owing to the impossibility of going on tour after January 1932]’ and ‘owing to his friendship with his [the Maharajah’s] father’.66 This was somewhat unusual, as the Kochu Koil Tampuran, held to be a ‘worm’, ‘mentally deficient’, and lacking in all social respects, was unknown to have any highly placed friends, leave alone the Viceroy. But what was clear was that his decision was one based on personal discretion. In the meantime he convened a meeting with his advisers and Sir CP to discuss Sethu Lakshmi Bayi and her reaction if an early investiture were finalised. Lord Willingdon, despite entertaining the Junior Maharani’s wishes, was apparently keen, nonetheless, to ensure her cousin was not hurt, owing to her tremendous standing. ‘His Excellency understood,’ the Political Secretary recorded, ‘that the reputation of the Maharani Regent, both as an administrator and as head of the family, was of the highest and he was unwilling to do anything that might make it appear that Govt. was dissatisfied with her rule.’67
Sir CP noted the Viceroy’s concerns but pointed out that the Maharani’s high position and enlightened administration had already been recognised through the conferment of the Crown of India and, like the Political Secretary had suggested, it was possible ‘to safeguard her position by high encomiums in His Excellency’s speech’ at the investiture.68 It was further suggested that the Viceroy could write her a personal letter explaining his reasons for investing the Maharajah with powers sooner than later so that she might rest assured that it was not due to lack of confidence in her.69 Sir CP also added that ‘in any case the Regent will continue to be the head of the ruling family in Travancore. She has also a high position as the Rani of Attingal, a large estate which she will continue to enjoy even after the Maharajah is invested.’ In fact, he claimed to be in favour of her ‘continuing to receive all her existing privileges and allowances even in retirement’.70 Thus, the Viceroy was made to understand that there was no reason to worry about the Maharani’s concerns at this time and that she would be well taken care of, thereby strengthening the case that the Maharajah’s fitness to rule was the only aspect to be taken into account.
In retrospect many found it odd that Sir CP, an avowed advocate of the Junior Maharani’s, was permitted by the Viceroy to act as spokesperson for her cousin, who had never foreseen the need for hiring lobbyists in Delhi, again pointing to the personal influence Sir CP exercised over the Willingdons. In any case, on 23 July, the Maharajah arrived in Simla where it was arranged for him to meet the Viceroy that very day. At the end of their meeting, Lord Willingdon announced that the Junior Maharani’s son could indeed be given powers sooner than previously proposed and noted down in his official records of that meeting the following:
I have now met him and feel after conversing with him and reading the reports of the administrative training he has already undergone, that it would not be fair to defer giving him his powers later. I have made some deviation from the general policy laid down by my predecessor, but I think each case has to be treated on its own merits and I consider the young Maharajah’s training has reached a point when it would not be profitable to pursue it further.71
Thus, the Viceroy’s response was a far cry from the popularly told, righteous exclamation of wonder that the boy was not mentally unstable, clarifying that his own discretion was the reason for this departure from t
he general principle enunciated by Lord Irwin some years ago. By the end of July, thus, it was finalized that the Maharajah would be installed in November 1931 with full powers, and the Resident asked Sethu Lakshmi Bayi to ascertain an auspicious date for the event. She, however, chose to defer planning of this durbar wholly to the Maharajah’s staff72 and it was thereafter confirmed for 6 November, two days before his nineteenth birthday. Additionally, the Viceroy decreed that ‘there is no longer any necessity to keep the Maharajah from the society of his mother’ and that ‘His Highness will in future live with her’.73 The Government of India, however, realised that this new arrangement was perhaps embarrassing for Captain Harvey due to his disputes with the Junior Maharani, and that it would be best, to avoid friction, if he be permitted to leave before the end of the Regency.74 Sethu Lakshmi Bayi agreed and accordingly he was relieved from service and departed soon afterwards.
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