The Maharaja and the Elephant

Local media from across Gloucestershire and Wiltshire have recently featured details of the upcoming talk about Maharaja at Hatherop Castle. The Standard, wrote: (http://bit.ly/x3MsaG) 

THE legend of the maharaja and the Hatherop Castle elephant will be retold in the Cotswolds next month together with an exhibition of rare photographs of an extraordinary event.

Jessica Douglas-Home, from Quenington, is visiting Hatherop Castle School to launch her new book, A Glimpse of Empire, which focuses on Indian maharajas and the extravagant Delhi Durbar, held for King George V in 1911.

The school has been chosen for the event because Hatherop Castle was owned by Maharaja Duleep Singh in the late nineteenth century. Legend has it that the maharaja brought an elephant to England with him and it lived in a barn at Beer Furlong, near Eastleach.

Diary extracts by Jessica’s grandmother, Lilah Wingfield, feature in the book from when she visited Delhi and witnessed the two-week spectacle first hand.

Many of Lilah’s photographs appear in the book and will be on show at an exhibition at Hatherop Castle School.

"This event was terribly exciting, beautiful and extraordinary," said Jessica. "Think of what the Queen’s diamond jubilee celebrations will be like and then times that by a thousand – it was so incredible."

Children will get the chance to meet Jessica and get a glimpse of the ornately dressed maharajas and elephants when she visits the school on Friday, February 3.

An open talk and exhibition will be held for the public at the school on the same day at 7pm for a 7.30pm start. To book a place, leave a message at info@glimpseofempire.com or 01285 750 624. Tickets cost £5 and include a glass a wine.

The photograph exhibition will be available to view at the school on Saturday, January 4 from 11am to 4pm and Sunday, January 5 from 11am to 1pm, costing £2 for entrance.