Bolly good weekend for royals

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are packing a lot of events into their nineday trip to India which began on November 6 the official lineup of engagements includes meeting President Pranab Mukherjee having lunch with VicePresident Hamid Ansari visiting womenrsquos groups though the royal couple have made it clear ldquothey wonrsquot take questions on the Delhi and Mumbai gang rapesrdquo and such like But the highlight for Charles and Camilla will come this weekend Prince Charles and his wife Camilla began their subcontinental sojourn on an auspicious note with the sunset aarti at Hrishikesh PicAFP Simon Martin Deputy Private Secretary to Their Royal Highnesses on Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has revealed ldquoBoth Their Royal Highnesses will attend a gala dinner in Mumbai with Bollywood starsrdquou00a0The British the royal family included have been persuaded that all that is young energetic and dynamic about the new India of 9 per cent GDP growth no matter that this has fallen dramatically is represented by something called ldquoBollywoodrdquo The Prince of Wales meets Sanjeev Bhaskar centre and film director Gurinder Chadha right at a reception in Clarence House last month Ambani ambience So who is being invited to this dinner ldquoWe have left it all to Mukesh Ambanirdquo said a wellplaced source who probably realized there was going to be blood on the carpet Ambani is chairman of the India wing of the British Asian Trust one of the Princersquos 17 charities that is particularly close to his heart Not much is known about who has made the cut but there are hopes it will be a spectacularly vulgar occasion though the line may be drawn at the likes of Mallika Sherawat and anyone who has been inside Bigg Boss Singer songwriter Navin Kundra who hammered out three Bollywood numbers for Charles and his lsquomehboobarsquo Camilla during the reception hosted by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall Regal agenda Unless anyone has offended Mukeshbhai in some way it is being assumed in London that ldquothe Bachchans will be asked along with the Khans Shah Rukh Aamir and Salman plus perhaps Saif Ali Khan Pataudi and his wife Kareena Ajay Devgn and his wife Kajol Rani Mukherjee Vidya Balan Shilpa Shetty winner of Celebrity Big Brother in 2007 Irrfan Khan and Subhash Ghairdquo However when it comes down the food chain it will be every wannabe starlet for herself It will be recalled that in 1980 Padmini Kolhapure did the only thing for which she has been remembered attempt a liplock with Prince Charles or at least a peck The Prince of Wales meets Labour MP Keith Vaz left sometimes referred to as the ldquoMP for Bollywood Centralrdquomany actors have visited his constituency at the Clarence House reception The dabbawallahs of Mumbai who gifted Camilla a green silk sari when she became Charlesrsquos Biwi No 2 in 2005 may want to know why she has not worn it once even Samantha Cameron tried out a russet coloured silk ldquoDiwali sarirdquo when she visited the Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden north London on Monday Another highlight will be a visit to the Doon School by Camilla while the couple are in Dehradun The school founded in 1935 likes to flatter itself by claiming to be ldquothe Eton of Indiardquo Eton founded 1440 has produced 19 prime ministers the latest being David Cameron compared with Doonrsquos Rajiv Gandhi The Prince of Wales meets actress Nina Wadia right at a reception in Clarence House ahead of the subcontinent visit Snooty schoolboys Eton is one of the most academic schools in Britain while even the Doscos in the UK privately admit it is basically ldquoa school for duffersrdquo allowing in not very bright children of rich fathers who had been at Doon But this is probably unfair Doon has produced many distinguished Indians in all walks of life However Tarun Tahiliani the fashion designer remembers being told off after being caught drawing pictures of little girls in pretty frocks For the son of an admiral this was ldquonot a manly thing to dordquo Still Camilla is going to Doon because boys are helping underprivileged women in the community Doon has one advantage though A ldquoDoscordquo is not a term of abuse in India not yet anyway In Britain ldquoOErdquo Old Etonian is It is an expression used by the Left to indicate that the ldquotoffsrdquo have little knowledge of the hardships of life A royal spokesman who had done his homework pointed out that Doonrsquos motto Knowledge Our Light preached the philosophy that ldquothe boys should leave Doon as members of an aristocracy but it must be an aristocracy of service inspired by ideas of unselfishness not one of privilege wealth or positionrdquo Compared with Etonians who tend to be insufferably smug Rajiv Gandhi at least exhibited a Dosco sense of humour when asked about the badge on his old school jacket on his first day at Trinity College Cambridgeu00a0ldquoThatrsquos the lamp of knowledge sirrdquo he proudly told a tutor The tutor according to Rajiv himself responded ldquoWell itrsquos a pity they didnrsquot light it while you were thererdquo Birthday bash Charles Philip Arthur George to give him his full name will turn 65 on November 14 while he is in India He has been heir to the throne since the death of his grandfather King George VI in 1952 when he was threeu00a0A big part of the popular press in Britain has taken against Charles trying to ridicule him at every turn and even on occasion suggesting that the succession should jump a generation and go to his son William Papers make fun of Charles because he believes in homoeopathy and holistic healing Fortunately the onemillionstrong Indian community in Britain has steered clear of the antiCharles lobby India does not have too many friends in high places in Britain but he is one of them He first visited India in 1975 at the age of 26 The current trip is his eighth Though his diary gets packed two years in advance he always makes time for Indian functions having acquired his love of India and all things Indian from his late greatuncle Lord Mountbatten the last Viceroy of India Analysts say Indians should not jump to label him a symbol of colonialism as the Queen was in 1997 she has not set foot in India since Celebrating diversity Charles will officiate for the Queen at the opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo on November 15 Now 87 she is cutting down on her longhaul trips Some argue that Charles should not automatically succeed her as head of the Commonwealth but it would be in Indiarsquos interests if he did observers say In a speech in 2000 in Trinidad Charles summed up ldquoI have long had an instinctive sense of the value of the Commonwealth It encourages and celebrates cultural diversity and makes no attempt to homogenizerdquo By way of preparing for his trip Charles held a reception for Indian Alisters at St Jamesrsquos Palace attended by the usual suspects comedian Sanjeev Bhasker who urged Charles and Camilla to switch off global roaming on the mobile phones they do not have drink only bottled water and haggle in the Mumbai bazaar and film director Gurinder Chadha Singersongwriter Navin Kundra a 28yearold from Coventry insisted on belting out not one or two but three Bollywood songs got Charles to call his wife lsquomehboobarsquo and then broke royal protocol by being overfamiliar with Camilla touching her on the arm a complete nono according to palace rules Only Michelle Obama got away with slipping her arm round the Queenrsquos waist but then she is American Packed itinerary On the current trip the royal couple are visiting Dehradun New Delhi Mumbai Pune and Kochi In Mumbai it is understood they will lay a wreath inside the Taj Mahal Hotel in memory of those killed in the 2008 terrorist outrage Camilla on her third official trip to India may take some ldquome timerdquo out for an Ayurvedic massage to which she is apparently partial She also has a thing for horses and ldquotakes an active interest in the Marwari Horserdquo which is bred by an old friend of the royals Gaj Singh erstwhile Maharajah of Jodhpur ldquoThe frequency of these visits reflects the importance the British Government attaches to its relationship with Indiardquo commented Martin ldquoIn terms of key themes they will undertake a broad range of engagements to promote the very strong and growing UKIndia partnership in many areas including conservation education womenrsquos empowerment and training They will also have the opportunity to celebrate Indiarsquos religious diversity creativity family ties between our two countries as well as emphasizing strong military and business linksrdquo He said ldquoThe visit as a whole is going to celebrate the extraordinary breadth and depth of the UKIndia partnershiprdquo Incidentally one thing Mukesh Ambani should not do is ask Charles who has strong views on modern architecture what he thinks about Antillia HRH might be provoked into giving him an honest answer He once famously described the Sainsbury Wing extension to the National Gallery in London as a ldquomonstrous carbuncle on the face of a muchloved and elegant friendrdquou00a0