Plot summary

1887. The Indian authorities have assigned two civil servants, Abdul Karim and Mohammed, to travel to England to be an integral part of the Indian's official gift presentation to Queen Victoria, the Empress of India, for her Golden Jubilee, they chosen not for their positions within the civil service - Abdul a prison clerk - but specifically for Abdul a certain physical attribute. While Mohammed wants to get in and out of England as quickly as possible in not liking anything about English culture including the monarchy, Abdul wants to cherish the moment to make it special for the Queen. The Queen is at a phase of being dissatisfied with her life: she has been without Prince Albert, her only love, for thirty years now, she dislikes all that her children have become, including Bertie, first in line to the throne, and she has tired of the conventions of her life, especially in being surrounded by people who treat her as queen, largely for their own benefit and standing, and not a person. In Abdul breaking with protocol during the actual presentation, however small but in a way the Queen does notice, the Queen befriends him in he reigniting interest in life for her, mostly about the Indian subcontinent and its culture, to the point of appointing him in the trusted role of her personal "munchi": teacher. While the Queen and Abdul's relationship is not always a harmonious one, especially in Abdul sometimes shielding her from the truth in his belief it the best for her, the situation between them is made all the more difficult by the Queen's advisers, including Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, being in revolt in Abdul not only being Indian and inherently a servant, but Muslim.—Huggo