Victoria & Abdul Page #3

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to any of the guests.

Nod or bow,

but, please,

do not interact with anybody

other than the serving staff.

I will come to you

when the Queen is seated,

and you will present the

Royal pudding as requested.

Excuse me, sir...

But what is it?

That is a jelly.

A pudding made from

the liquor of fruit.

How do they get it so stiff?

Gelatine,

a by-product of cow bone.

(SPEAKING URDU)

LORD SALISBURY:
There's

another famine in India.

More trouble in Ireland,

I'm afraid.

Suez is a perennial nightmare.

And I'm afraid

the Boers are at it again.

Is there any good news,

Prime Minister?

Well, we've decided to

annex Zululand, Your Majesty.

Whatever for?

We really have to box in the

Boers if we possibly can.

Oh, Prime Minister, you really

are terribly depressing.

Yes.

Ah, sandwiches! Mm!

MAN:
Splendid!

That's wonderful.

(GASPING) Oh!

Splendid!

Jelly, Your Majesty.

(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)

I suddenly feel

a great deal better.

What the hell

were you thinking?

You said,

"Present the jelly," sir.

I didn't say kiss the feet

of the Empress of India!

I thought it

would cheer her up.

Cheer her up?

They'll have me

court-martialed!

What on Earth

is going on?

Her Majesty has requested

Mr. Karim and Mr. Baksh

be her personal footmen

for the rest of the Jubilee.

(SPEAKING URDU)

Ah, gentlemen.

You can wait here by the door.

Her Majesty wants you to stand

in here, by the writing desk.

Go on.

Thank you.

You may go.

Oh, thank you,

Your Majesty.

Don't worry.

I'm not going to eat you.

(QUEEN VICTORIA CLEARS THROAT)

"Dr. Reid,

"a very successful movement

"at 8:
00 this morning."

What the hell is

going on in there?

(SIGHS)

Thank you, Mr...

Abdul.

Abdul Karim.

I am always writing.

In India, I'm writing

all day, every day.

So in India,

you are not a servant?

No. In India, I'm writing

in my very big book.

You're writing a book?

Yes. I'm writing every name,

who they are, what they have done.

This is my life.

Every day, I'm writing,

from morning to night.

And is this fiction?

No.

It is the very truth.

I don't understand.

If you are an author,

why are you here?

Presenting me with a...

The Mohur.

It is my humble privilege

to serve Her Majesty.

(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)

I was the one who

chose your carpets.

Carpets?

Yes. The Viceroy asked Mr. Tyler,

sir, but actually it was me.

You have to have a very

good eye for the carpets.

Like, this is a very

nice one, for example.

Very, very tight knots.

The art of carpets

came to India from Persia

with the great Emperor Akbar.

The skill of a carpet

is to bring all the different

kinds of threads together

and weave something

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