he was regarded by the Household was based mostly on snobbery and colour prejudice." Victoria biographer Elizabeth Longford wrote, "Abdul Karim stirred once more that same royal imagination which had magnified the virtues of John Brown ... Nevertheless, [it] insinuated into her confidence an inferior person, while it increased the nation's dizzy infatuation with an inferior dream, the dream of Colonial Empire." Historians agree with the suspicions of her Household that the Munshi influenced the Queen's opinions on Indian issues, biasing her against Hindus and favouring Muslims. But suspicions that he passed secrets to Rafiuddin Ahmed are discounted. Victoria asserted that "no political papers of any kind are ever in the Munshi's hands, even in her presence. He only helps her to read words which she cannot read or merely ordinary submissions on warrants for signature. He does not read English fluently enough to be able to read anything of importance." Consequently, it is thought unlikely that he could have influenced the government's Indian policy or provided useful information to Muslim activists. The 2017 feature film Victoria & Abdul, directed by Stephen Frears and starring Ali Fazal as Abdul Karim and Judi Dench as Queen Victoria, offers a fictionalised version of the relationship between Karim and the Queen. Notes and references Bibliography Anand, Sushila (1996) Indian Sahib: Queen Victoria's Dear Abdul, London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., Basu, Shrabani (2010) Victoria and Abdul: The True Story of the Queen's Closest Confidant, Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press, Hibbert, Christopher (2000) Queen Victoria: A Personal History, London: HarperCollins, Longford, Elizabeth (1964) Victoria R.I., London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Nelson, Michael (2007) Queen Victoria and the Discovery of the Riviera, London: Tauris Parke Paperbacks, Plumb, J. H. (1977) Royal Heritage: The Story of Britain's Royal Builders and Collectors, London: BBC, Rennell, Tony (2000) Last Days of Glory: The Death of Queen Victoria, New York: St. Martin's Press, Waller, Maureen (2006) Sovereign Ladies: The Six Reigning Queens of England, New York: St. Martin's Press, External links Queen Victoria's Last Love, Channel 4 2012 documentary narrated by Geoffrey Palmer, about Queen Victoria (played by Veronica Clifford) and the Munshi (played by Kushal Pal Singh) Queen Victoria's Last Love (2012), details of the above documentary at the Internet Movie Database Queen Victoria and Abdul: Diaries reveal secrets, BBC News, 14 March 2011 Abdul Karim, who taught Queen Victoria Hindustani, British Library, Asians in Britain collection Entries mentioning Abdul