Two days after her Golden Jubilee celebrations in June 1887, the Queen was sent an unusual present: two Indian servants. Though they both stooped to kiss her feet, one soon rose rapidly in rank. The tall, handsome Karim was just 24- years-old, but within a year he was established as a powerful figure in the Royal Court. Devastated by the death of John Brown, her Scottish ghillie, four years earlier, Victoria had at last found his replacement. Resentment of this new arrival quickly festered at court, suspicious of this exotic Muslim intruder's growing power. More than once her Royal Household threatened to resign. But the elderly queen would brook no criticism of her "dear Munshi," to whom she wrote daily, signing off "your loving mother". Karim became both Victoria's personal servant and inseparable confidante. He was also her tangible link to India, a country that, although she had never visited, she felt deeply to be at the core of the British Empire she adored, dismissing whispers of Karim's involvement in the growing Indian independence movement. Victoria & Abdul: The True Story of The Queen's Closest Confidante will be submitted in autumn 2007.