Daughter of Empire: Life as a Mountbatten

Daughter of the glamorous heiress Edwina Ashley and Lord Louis Mountbatten, Pamela spent much of her early life with her sister, nannies and servants – not to mention a menagerie of animals. Her parents vast social circle included royalty, film stars and politicians – noel Coward invited Pamela  to watch film and Douglas Fairbanks Jnr dropped in for tea.

When war broke out her father was appointed chief of combined Operations. It was partly in response to his achievements in that role that Clement Atlee appointed him to be the last viceroy of India and oversee the transfer of power to an independent Indian government. Amid the turmoil of political change, Pamela came of age, meeting student and youth leaders, working in the canteen for allied forces and in a clinic outside Delhi as well as establishing a warm friendship with Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. She was witness both to the joy of independence day and its terrible aftermath.