Nehru and Edwina: An Unconventional Union

Words by Ayesha Imran

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This painting was done by Horace Van Ruith in the 1880s as a documentary record of costume and jewellery of the region of Punjab. The woman is wearing her full set of head, ear, nose, neck, arm, hand, ankle and foot jewellery and a costume richly decorated with 'zardozi' (gold wire/thread) embroidery. She lifts her blue gathered skirt with gold-embroidered border to show her silver anklets and toe rings, and at the same time shows the mirror ring on the thumb of her left hand and gold finger rings attached to her bracelets by gold chains. Her shoes are in front of her bare feet. (Available now as Print)

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Nehru and Edwina: An Unconventional Union

The famous trio, captured on the steps of Delhi’s Government House by Henri-Cartier Bresson in 1948.

On the morning of 21st February, 1960, Edwina Mountbatten was found dead. Her assistant would later go on to describe that her cheek was cold to the touch and that beside her, lay a scattered pile of letters.

They were all from Jawaharlal Nehru. 

When Louis “Dickie” and Edwina Mountbatten landed in Delhi on March 22, 1947, the conditions were bleak; India was on the brink of a civil war and the British would have to move fast. Immediately upon their arrival, the Mountbattens set out to establish relationships with the key players driving the Indian Independence movement, most notably, Jawaharlal Nehru, the then President of the National Congress, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the leader of the All India Muslim League. Despite their attempts, the Mountbattens did not get on well with Jinnah. They were quoted to have found him “chilly”, “reserved”, and all in all just “unpleasant”. This marked a striking difference to their relationship with Nehru, with whom they established an immediate rapport and camaraderie. 

For Nehru and Edwina in particular, theirs formed an “immediate intimacy” as reported by Andrew Lownie, in his book, “The Lives and Loves of Edwina and Dickie Mountbatten”. This intimacy is further evidenced by a photograph that was captured of the two at The Mountbatten’s first garden party. On the sofa to the left is Edwina Mountbatten sitting on a sofa, seemingly in conversation with Nehru’s sister, affectionately referred to as “Nan”, to the left of Edwina, is Nehru sitting crossed legged on the ground, right by her feet. This photograph was taken on 28th March, 1947 - just a mere 6 days after their arrival in the capital. 

On the sofa to the left is Edwina Mountbatten sitting on a sofa, seemingly in conversation with Nehru’s sister, affectionately referred to as “Nan”, to the left of Edwina, is Nehru sitting crossed legged on the ground, right by her feet. This photograph was taken on 28th March, 1947 - just a mere 6 days after their arrival in the capital. 

But this isn’t just a story about two people who loved and cared about each other. They also happened to be two central figures in the storm center of one of the most important historical moments of the 20th century.  All of this was, in addition to the fact that Edwina was married to the very man responsible for ushering in a new era of India and her independence.