A fleeting brush with royalty, memories that last a lifetime
The news from England of the death of Prince Philip, who lived up to almost a century, came as a personal loss to me. Many a memory of a wonderful childhood spent in Delhi some six decades ago came alive as sadness engulfed me.
The Republic Day celebrations in 1959 flashed through my mind like a crystal-clear picture. Tugging at my parents’ hands, my little brother Rajeshwar and I were standing on the roadside to watch the parade. Our neighbours Vinod, Pramod and Kusum, all three children of Mr Avinash Agnihotri and Savitri Devi, stood next to us. Mr Agnihotri was the principal of a school run by Swantantra Bharat Mills and his wife taught Hindi in a school in East Patel Nagar.
The running commentary relayed by principal sahib for the benefit of us children, aged between 10 and 13 years, enlightened us about the significance of the day. He described each tableau that was part of the colourful annual parade and drew our attention towards the beautiful designs being made in the sky by the contrails of aircraft.
Suddenly, there was a thunderous applause by people standing around us. Everyone was cheering and clapping to welcome the royal couple, Queen Elizabeth II and her handsome husband, the Duke of Edinburgh. The VIP couple were standing in an open vehicle. “They are the Rani and Raja of England, our special guests of the day,” Mr Agnihotri told us.
None of us youngsters had seen a foreigner in person till that time. We couldn’t take our eyes off the fair and handsome couple. The gentleman was wearing a suit and had a pleasant disposition. His wife wore a beautiful dress with white gloves. They seemed to be enjoying the attention being showered on them and acknowledged the greetings by nodding and smiling.
For a fleeting moment, their eyes rested on our group, and we clapped even more vigorously. For days after the celebration, the queen and her husband remained the topic of discussion in school and in the neighbourhood.
The children would pray for another chance to see the “gora raja and rani (fair queen and her husband)”. Our wish came true after two years for in 1961, the couple was invited again to grace the Republic Day celebrations as the chief guest.
For days together, we relived the memories of their visit, enacting their part in short skits written for us by the benevolent Mr Agnihotri. I called him Mamaji as he belonged to a place named Shamchaurasi near Jalandhar, which fell in the same belt as my mother’s village.
The death the duke on April 9 made me emotional, and I went on searching for more information about him on the internet. I wish I could share the interesting facts with the three Agnihotri siblings or maybe ask Mamaji to write another skit for us. Sadly, after I parted from them in 1964 as I left Delhi, I have not been able to find any of them, even on social media platforms. If only this piece could become a source of reunion.
EVERYONE WAS CHEERING AND CLAPPING TO WELCOME THE ROYAL COUPLE, QUEEN ELIZABETH II AND HER HANDSOME HUSBAND, THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH