<P> According to Karim biographer Sushila Anand, the Queen's own letters testify that "her discussions with the Munshi were wide - ranging--philosophical, political and practical . Both head and heart were engaged . There is no doubt that the Queen found in Abdul Karim a connection with a world that was fascinatingly alien, and a confidant who would not feed her the official line ." Karim was placed in charge of the other Indian servants and made responsible for their accounts . Victoria praised him in her letters and journal . "I am so very fond of him" she wrote, "He is so good & gentle & understanding all I want & is a real comfort to me ." She admired "her personal Indian clerk & Munshi, who is an excellent, clever, truly p (i) ous & very refined gentle man, who says,' God ordered it'...God's Orders is what they implicitly obey! Such faith as theirs & such conscientiousness set us ag (rea) t . example ." At Balmoral Castle, the Queen's Scottish estate, Karim was allocated the room previously occupied by John Brown, a favourite servant of the Queen's who had died in 1883 . Despite the serious and dignified manner that Karim presented to the outside world, the Queen wrote that "he is very friendly and cheerful with the Queen's maids and laughs and even jokes now--and invited them to come and see all his fine things offering them fruit cake to eat". </P> <P> In November 1888, Karim was given four months' leave to return to India, during which time he visited his father . Karim wrote to Victoria that his father, who was due to retire, had hopes of a pension and that his former employer, John Tyler, was angling for promotion . As a result, throughout the first six months of 1889, Victoria wrote to the Viceroy of India, Lord Lansdowne, demanding action on Waziruddin's pension and Tyler's promotion . The Viceroy was reluctant to pursue the issues because Waziruddin had told the local governor, Sir Auckland Colvin, that he desired only gratitude and also because Tyler had a reputation for tactless behaviour and bad - tempered remarks . </P> <P> Karim's swift rise began to create jealousy and discontent among the members of the Royal Household, who would normally never mingle socially with Indians below the rank of prince . The Queen expected them to welcome Karim, an Indian of ordinary origin, into their midst, but they were not willing to do so . Karim, for his part, expected to be treated as an equal . When Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII), hosted an entertainment for the Queen at his home in Sandringham on 26 April 1889, Karim found he had been allocated a seat with the servants . Feeling insulted, he retired to his room . The Queen took his part, stating that he should have been seated among the Household . When the Queen attended the Braemar Games in 1890, her son Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, approached the Queen's private secretary Sir Henry Ponsonby in outrage after he saw the Munshi among the gentry . Ponsonby suggested that as it was "by the Queen's order", the Duke should approach the Queen about it . "This entirely shut him up", noted Ponsonby . </P> <P> Victoria biographer Carolly Erickson described the situation: </P>

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