Letter from James Ivory, Berkeley, California, to Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Delhi, India, 1974 January 8 : autograph manuscript signed.

Telling her he almost missed his flight to California because Madhur and Merchant insisted he accompany them to Van Cleef & Arpels to pick out jewelry for the Princess film; describing the sights he saw from the plane; describing his aunt's condition and the relationaship between her and her husband; telling her he'll be going to Los Angeles next, meeting Merchant there, and beginning pre-production on "The Wild Party"; saying that unfortunately Wally [Shawn] will not be able to work on it, as he has commitments with Joe Papp and Andre Gregory; relating a disagreement Ivory witnessed between Shawn and his partner Debbie [Eisenberg]; discussing the issue of the Van Cleef & Arpels set Madhur chose, and wondering if its sumptuousness isn't appropriate for afternoon wear by someone of the Princess's social and financial status; coming up with a scenario where the necklace is something she has borrowed for the tea with her old teacher but doesn't actually own; noting wryly that "Maharanis do this sort of thing all the time in London, Paris, New York. The Maharani of Baroda usually forgets to return what she's borrowed"; insisting that the Princess must have a servant-- "I imagined a bandy-legged old man..."