At the heart of
this story is a “romantic friendship”.
This is an old Victorian term for a special
connection of friendship, usually between two men or two women.
It may or may not
have a sexual [carnal] connotation; it can be physical and/or emotional and may
border on a deeper, profound love. Between two men it is often referred to as
being “platonic” [i].
There was
certainly much more than an ordinary friendship in the constancy between Prince Victor Duleep Singh ( nicknamed ‘Tulip’) and George
Carnarvon, starting from when George was
Lord Porchester (nicknamed ‘Porchey’),
the Herbert ( Carnarvon /Highclere) heir
in waiting as the 5th Earl.
Victor was also
the heir to his father’s title of Maharaja of Lahore, although he never subsequently claimed that style of name or
address after his father died in 1893. Victor adored his mother’s family in
Egypt, he never understood his father and his wrath against Queen Victoria, but
was proud of their Indian roots.
The closeness and
fondness of Porchey and Victor ran through as pre-pubescent boys from their
There were deeply
felt emotional needs they both had that
was satisfied from the other in a rare devotion that endured for almost 40
years.
The two of them
found a means of survival as dubbed “odd balls”[ii], bullied by their
fathers, with often distant mothers, and
mocked by their peer group. It was a union with one another that was
unbreakable.
Later they
travelled the world with privacy assured on board Porchey’s yachts. They often
hid away at
After Porchey
became Lord Carnarvon (from 1890) and married Almina Wombwell in 1895, Victor
remained an unvarying presence in the lives of the Carnarvons. His Lordship’s love for his best friend was
unfailing. Almina accepted that love and she came to tolerate
their closeness, and, in time, grew fond
of Victor. He was always at their side, or on call, he held
the Carnarvon’s peculiar marriage together, and, is, almost certainly, the 6th Earl’s father.
The books published by the 6th Earl and the present day Carnarvons are tardy and economical with the facts about
Victor. Others too have missed the point. The point is simple.
This is overwhelming a story of the love between Tulip Singh and Porchey Carnarvon.
The Carnarvons may owe Victor their continuity. But the
Herberts go no further than
acknowledging that Victor was a regular visitor to
They add a few
unexceptional anecdotes of him as a great sportsman and the godfather of the
6th Earl (as Lord Porchester) from 1898. The memoirs of Henry, the 6th Earl,
whilst proclaiming his mother Almina’s alleged illegitimacy (as the daughter of
Alfred de Rothschild), withholds the real truth of his own illegitimacy that he
knew, as Almina told him all about Victor. [iii]
It is a bad
reflection that the truth continues
unsaid of Victor’s role in sustaining
the advance of the Herbert family; it is
because it remains a curse.[iv]
[i] This concept originates in the ideas of
the ancient philosopher Plato, from whose name the term is derived.
[ii] Tony Leadbetter Interviews 2009-2019.
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] See the book by William Cross “Prince Victor Duleep Singh and the
Curse of the Carnarvons” Book Midden Publishing. (2019).
