The visit of Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, to the Taj was reminiscent of Princess Diana’s dekko of the monument of love 24 years ago, but with a difference: the prince’s mother went around the Taj alone with Prince Charles staying behind in Delhi, purportedly to address a FICCI meeting. There were reports subsequently of a tiff between the royal couple following Diana’s action in just pecking her husband’s ear at a polo match in Jaipur instead of imparting the customary kiss. So the late princess had to sit alone on the marble seat above the lotus pond (now named after her) and rue her discomfiture.
Sir Edwin Arnold thought the Taj was Mumtaz Mahal herself personified, and the minarets her four maids of honour. When Lady Diana visited the Taj one saw two beautiful women –– not one. This time perhaps it was also the same.
Royal and other couples have always gone together to view that monument of love. The Shah and Shah Bano of Iran, the Crown Prince and Princess of Japan (now the Emperor and Empress), Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the King and Queen of Nepal, the Chogyal of Sikkim and his wife and many more made it a point to get themselves photographed at the Taj together. Only in the case of Diana things did not work out that way. But she looked at peace with herself and her surroundings. When journalists were permitted to speak to her, the Princess of Wales made the cryptic comment that the Taj had “provided the healing touch”.
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Mumtaz Mahal too died young, at about the same age as Princess Diana. She also had a troubled childhood; and her marriage to Shah Jahan came amidst great opposition from Nur Jahan, her aunt, and wife of Jahangir. Left to herself, Nur Jahan would have had Shah Jahan marry her daughter by a previous marriage. But Prince Khurram, as he was known then, had lost his heart to Arjumand Bano. Some such sentiments were conveyed to Diana. She entered the Cenotaph Chamber and heard the fabled echo raised by a ‘khadim’. It seemed to convey the futility of life as emphasised by the words inscribed on the grave of Shah Jahan, “The world is a bridge, pass over it but do not build, so says Jesus on whom be peace.” Diana came out of the dim chamber, climbed up the stairs and was reminded again to mind her head for the ceiling of the staircase is low. Out into the Central Quadrangle and the strong sunshine, the princess walked around the monument, admiring the minarets and the kites sailing overhead. She then went to the rear from where she could see the entire city spread out before her like a map. Incidentally, the famed 20-second echo was raised for William and Catherine also and they were mesmerised by it too.
The princess could not control her excitement when told that Shah Jahan wanted to build another Taj, made of black marble, on the other side of the river, which would have connected the two monuments with a golden bridge. The princess saw the Yamuna meandering away. With mercifully more water than it normally has, towards its ultimate meeting (sangam) with the Ganga at Allahabad.
Diana also saw some boats lying anchored. They were small wooden contraptions belonging to the mallahs or boatmen. Did the princess want a boat ride? Perhaps she would have loved it, rowing a boat behind the Taj, or being rowed in it as though by fairy hands right up to the old bridge, which was lit up with paper lanterns, along with the nearby monuments, when Edward VII, as Prince of Wales, visited it in 1875. The bridge must have beckoned Will and Catherine too.
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A British official accompanying Diana wondered why there weren’t more boats, modern ones, so that people could do some boating on the Yamuna. Someone explained to him that there was not enough water in the river throughout the year. It was only during the monsoon that the Yamuna was really full; otherwise it became parted into two streams. Another reason for not allowing boating was the spirit behind the construction of the monument. It was memorial to death, the parched Yamuna winding by silently adding to its serenity. Diana spent several minutes admiring the view and so did her son and his wife. The Taj does soothe sore minds. The radiant smile on Diana’s face showed it all. She walked back with lingering steps through the avenue of cypress trees to the exit gate, pausing there for one last look at the monument that had captured her heart. Only a princess can fully fathom the psyche of another princess, who however became a queen, albeit for a short time.
But this time on April 16 there was no hassle as in February 1992. Perhaps Princess Diana heaved a sign of relief in heaven at the happy culmination of her son and daughter-in-law’s tryst with the Taj, though three of its minarets (one with a missing finial) are under a scaffolding to mar a perfect picture of the backdrop of the famous “marble seat of love” on which the young couple nevertheless posed for a memorable photo.
The author is a veteran chronicler of Delhi