Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee of 1887 marked a limited return to public view following her near total isolation after her husband’s death in 1861. South Asians played a prominent role in the celebrations. The Queen had assumed the title ‘Empress of India’ following a controversial ‘Royal Titles Bill’ in 1876; her son the Prince of Wales had visited India that same year, bringing back his mother’s Leaves from Balmoral translated into Hindustani. Shortly afterwards, the Queen began to sign correspondence 'V. R. & I.’ – Victoria Regina et Imperatrix.

On 21 June the Queen, wearing the Orders of the Garter and the Star of India, was led to Westminster Abbey by an escort of Indian cavalry, under the command of Captain Charles W. Muir, Commandant of the Governor-General’s Bodyguard since 1885. Each member of the escort was later presented with a Jubilee medal by the Queen in a ceremony at Windsor Castle.

Indian princes in attendance that day included: the Maharaja of Cooch Behar with his wife (significantly seen out of purdah; the state was known for its emancipated outlook); the Maharao of Kutch (aged 21 and accompanied by his brother); the Maharaja of Holkar of Indore; the Thakor of Gondal (who had studied medicine at Edinburgh and been one of the first Indian princes to receive the honour KCOBE); the Thakor of Limbdi; and the Maharaja of Morvi (who made a gift of an Arab stallion with gold and silver trappings). There were also representatives from states whose rulers did not attend, including Hyderabad, Alwar, Jodpure, Bhurtapore and Kapurthala. They attended the ceremony in Westminster Abbey as well as the dinner at Buckingham Palace that night.

On 23 June, the Queen received two new Indian servants: Mahomet and Abdul Karim. Karim's influence over the Queen was to raise him from waiting servant to personal teacher. As munshi, Karim later taught Victoria Hindustani, and was subject of immense controversy both within the royal household and among members of the Government. On 29 June at the Buckingham Palace Garden Party the royal tent was attended by members of the Indian escort including Subadar Sheik Imdad Ali, a senior officer of the Viceroy’s bodyguard, and Risaldar Major Nural Hussan of the 6th Prince of Wales Bengal Cavalry. Towards the end of July, the Indian princes who had attended the Jubilee were given a lavish farewell at Osborne, on the Isle of Wight.

Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee of 1897 was both a more restrained and a far grander celebration of her reign than the Golden Jubilee of the previous decade. The Queen’s own involvement was greatly diminished on account of her increasing frailty. As an example of alterations in ceremony, the thanksgiving service took place not in Westminster Cathedral, but in the open outside St Paul’s Cathedral, so that the Queen could remain in her carriage. The scope of the celebrations, however, expanded considerably for the Diamond Jubilee, with a celebration of empire becoming arguably the central theme: ‘unlike the Golden Jubilee, which had placed Victoria and her family at the centre of the festivities, the Diamond Jubilee would focus almost exclusively on a celebration of the British Empire’ (King, p. 19). Joseph Chamberlain is generally credited for this shift in focus.

Before leaving Buckingham Palace on 22 June, the Queen issued a telegraph throughout the empire, saying ‘From my heart I thank my beloved people. May God bless them!’ Invitations had been issued to all the Indian princes, but many were forced to remain at home to deal with the aftermath of the devastating famine of 1896-7. Many Indian troops, however, participated in the processions through London, including Bengal lancers, officers of the Indian Imperial Service Troops in kirtas with gold sashes, and Sikhs marching alongside Canadians. The Daily Mail wrote: ‘Up they came, more and more, new types, new realms at every couple of yards, an anthropological museum – a living gazetteer of the British Empire’ (23 June 1897).

Upon her return to Windsor on 23 June, the Queen was met by four young Indian students from Eton College: ‘sons of the Maharajahs of Kuch, Behar, the Minister of Hydrebad, and the Prince of Gondal’ (King, p. 268). On 2 July the Queen surveyed the colonial troops at Windsor. A court circular erroneously claimed she had addressed the Indians in Hindustani, which was allowed to pass by the Queen who said ‘I could have done so had I wished’ (Ponsonby, pp. 62-3; quoted in King, p. 269).

Celebrations were also held throughout India. Typically, responses focused on the unifying effect of Queen Victoria, and presented her in a maternal light.