The far pavilions

Take his rendezvous at a Bollywood set this week. The prince is scheduled to drop in at the shooting of a new production, 1857: The Rising, on the first war of independence. The symbolism is evident. The revolt against the East India Company sparked off by Mangal Pandey, played by Aamir Khan in the film, has been heatedly debated by historians. The British chose to term it a mutiny, whose end is marked by a scattering of memorials in north India. For Indians, it was the first stirring of a freedom struggle, a failed bid to evict the coloniser 8212; a milestone on the road to 1947. How will the heir to the House of Windsor term it? Will it be an occasion for post-colonial reconciliation or yet another dispute? It will, most likely, be a low-key footnote to his parents8217; controversial visit to Jallianwala Bagh seven years ago. As they did a round of a memorial at the site of the massacre on Baisakhi Day 1919, Queen Elizabeth II expectedly uttered no apology for General Dyer8217;s actions. And her husband made matters decidedly worse by limiting his comments to doubts about the number listed as dead on the plaque.

No calls for apologies have rent the air this time; instead Prince Charles8217;s itinerary is simply being compared to his earlier visits. Like, in 1980, when Padmini Kolhapure planted a teenage kiss on his cheek. Like, in 1992, when whispers about his estrangement from Diana became louder when she posed alone before the Taj Mahal. His tour diary clearly pales when set against the family saga or the latest revelations from a former palace staffer.