THE QUEEN IS AMUSED
With her tale of two empires, G uri nd er wins heart sat the palace
We’re not the only ones gushing over the new film
Viceroy’s House – the royal family is too! Director Gurinder Chadha ( Bend it Like
Beckham fame) took 11 years to create this moving film about the 1947 partition of India.
The movie follows the last Viceroy of India, Louis Mountbatten, who was also Prince Charles’ grand-uncle. And it was the prince himself who helped Gurinder when it came to researching for the film.
“I was at the reception in St James’s Palace and, while I was chatting with Prince Charles, I said, ‘I’m working on a film about your favourite uncle,’” she recalls. “He got terribly excited and said, ‘You have to read this book, this book and how about this book?’ It was him who told me about The Shadow of the Great
Game, the second book we based the film off.”
That book uncovered secret documents from 1945 and completely changed the ending of the script that Gurinder, 57, had already been working on for two years.
As for Her Royal Highness, when the Queen and Gurinder’s paths crossed at Buckingham Palace earlier this year – at the 70th anniversary celebration of Britain’s withdrawal from India – she instantly recognised the director. “She smiled at me, which she doesn’t always do, and she said, ‘I’ve seen your trailer on TV and I’m very excited to see the film. I hope it’s good!’”
Gurinder immediately sent off a DVD of the movie to her – and we hear that Charles has since swiped the disc!