| Edwina Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten Of Burma |
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Information AboutEdwina Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten Of Burma |
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PEDIGREE AND WEALTH She was born Edwina Cynthia Annette Ashley in 1901 , the daughter of Wilfred Ashley, later 1st Baron Mount Temple, who was a Conservative Member Of Parliament . She was also the favourite granddaughter of the great Edwardian magnate Sir Ernest Cassel , and a great-granddaughter of the reformist 7th Earl Of Shaftesbury . Cassel, who was a private financier to the future King Edward VII and one of the richest and most powerful men in Europe , left the bulk of his fortune to her. MARRIAGE TO MOUNTBATTEN By the time Lord Louis Mountbatten first met her in 1920 she was a leading member of London society. Her grandfather died in 1921, leaving her £2 million, the country seat of Broadlands in Hampshire and the palatial London townhouse Brooke House at a time when her future husband's salary was £610 per annum. Ashley and Mountbatten were married on 18 July 1922 at St. Margaret's, Westminster. The Royal family were all present and the then- Prince Of Wales (the future King Edward VIII ) was Best Man . LIFE AFTER MARRIAGE The Mountbattens had two daughters, Patricia (born 14 February 1924) and Pamela (born 19 April 1929). Lady Louis Mountbatten lived a fashionable and privileged life almost totally dedicated to the pursuit of Pleasure — and indeed took off on an extended period at sea during the mid-1930s when no one had any idea of her whereabouts. But at the outbreak of the Second World War she acquired a new purpose in life and devoted her considerable Intelligence and energy to the service of others. She is especially remembered for her service in the post-Partition period of India and Pakistan, when she was the vice-reine of the truncated India, Pakistan having been partitioned off as a result of the movement led by Mohammed Ali Jinnah. (Lord and Lady Mountbatten of Burma had very briefly been the last Viceroy and Vicereine of pre-Partition India; after Partition, Lord Mountbatten of Burma remained briefly as the first of the two Governors General of India — in 1950 the link with the monarchy was severed and India's governor general was replaced with a non-executive president. During his brief governor generalship Lord Mountbatten of Burma was accorded by the Government of India, to all intents and purposes, his former viceregal powers in the circumstances of appalling carnage and disruption attendant upon the Partition.) Lady Mountbatten of Burma in all renderings of the violent disruption that followed the Partition of India is universally praised for her heroic efforts in relieving the misery and to this day she remains a heroine in India of the Partition period — notwithstanding a certain amount of drollery regarding her well-known intimacy with Jawaharlal Nehru . Lord Mountbatten of Burma himself remains a controversial figure — possibly if he had not been so eager to hasten Indian independence and ensure that the inevitable carnage that would follow would not occur on the British watch, it would not have occurred at all, or at least not so disastrously. But Lady Mountbatten of Burma is universally regarded as a heroine: her efforts to relieve suffering during the Partition of the Punjab are remembered to this day, together with her modest demeanour in St John's Ambulance Brigade uniform: needless to say, it made a profound impression in juxtaposition with her official portraits in Viceregal grandeur in evening gown and tiara. Lady Mountbatten of Burma continued to lead a life of selfless service after her Viceroyalty in India. She died in her sleep at age 58 of unknown causes — but clearly of sheer exhaustion — in 1960 in Jesselton, Borneo while on an inspection tour for the St John's Ambulance Brigade. At her request, Lord Mountbatten of Burma buried her at sea; Nehru sent two Indian destroyers to accompany her body. AFFAIRS It is reliably assumed that she had an ongoing affair with Jawaharlal Nehru , the first Prime Minister Of India , which continued until her death, her daughters having confirmed this. It is assumed that both Lady and Lord Mountbatten of Burma had an Open Relationship , numerous affairs of both of them having been reported during the 1930s, though only Lady Mountbatten of Burma's relationship with Nehru is determinatively documented. In both their cases, their extraordinarily public service has ensured that no scandal has arisen. TITLES AND HONOURS Shorthand titles
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