The Scandal That Shaped Partition: The House of Mountbatten

Empire: World History

Goalhanger

History

4.5 • 5.4K Ratings

🗓️ 12 May 2026

⏱️ 5 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Who was the last Viceroy of India and why was his marriage so unconventional? How many affairs did Edwina Mountbatten have? Why was Lord Mountbatten known as the “Master of Disaster” by senior Navy officials? In Episode 2 of Empire’s first members’ miniseries, Anita is joined once again by Alex Von Tunzelmann to discuss the origin story of the remaining two characters in the love triangle that shaped partition: Louis and Edwina Mountbatten. Email: empire@goalhanger.com Instagram: @empirepoduk Blue Sky: @empirepoduk X: @empirepoduk Assistant Producer: Imogen Marriott Social Producer: Charlie Johnson Producer: Anouska Lewis Executive Producer: Dom Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	If you want access to bonus episodes reading lists for every series of Empire, a chat community.
0:06.8	Discounts for all the books mentioned in the week's podcast, add free listening and a weekly newsletter,
0:12.5	sign up to Empire Club at www.empirpoduk.com.
0:36.3	This week on our Empire Club miniseries, we're going to carry on with the story of a scandal that shaped partition.
0:39.9	Alex and I are discussing the unconventional marriage between the last viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten and his wife Edwina Mountbatten. Now, last week,
0:45.4	you'll remember, we set up Nairu's life before he fell in love with Edwina. This week,
0:50.7	we ask, how did the Mountbatten's end up in India to begin with? Here's a clip from
0:55.3	the episode where we discuss one of Edwina's many affairs of the 1920s and 30s. To access
1:01.5	the full series, just head to EmpartPoduk.com, EmpartPoduk.com and become a friend of
1:07.3	the show. She was young, she was beautiful, she was rich.
1:14.1	She was married to someone who wasn't enough for her.
1:16.4	She was probably gadding about a bit.
1:18.4	And we put a pin, for instance, in Leslie Hutchinson and Paul.
1:21.6	Okay, and why don't we put Paul Robeson and Leslie Hutch Hutch Hutchinson together to talk about?
1:28.4	Because it will be relevant in a moment.
1:29.4	Yes.
1:30.4	Even though these are completely different men.
1:31.4	Yes.
1:32.4	And so for those of you, I'm sure more people know Paul Robeson's name than Hutch Hutch
1:35.5	Hutch Hutchinson.
1:36.5	But Paul Robeson, an African American, huge on both sides of the Atlantic and very
1:42.3	political as well.
	...

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