In 1877, Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative Prime Minister, had Queen Victoria proclaimed as Empress of India. India was already under crown control after 1858, but this title was a gesture to link the monarchy with the empire further and bind India more closely to Britain.

The Royal Titles Bill was brought before Parliament in 1876. It faced opposition from Liberals who feared that the title was synonymous with absolutism. Queen Victoria opened Parliament in person, the first time since the death of Prince Albert, to announce the change in royal title. Celebrations were held in Delhi, in what is known as the Delhi Durbar, on 1 January 1877, led by the Viceroy, Lord Lytton.

The Imperial Conference of 1926 was the sixth in a series of increasingly formal meetings of the Prime Ministers of the Dominions of the British Empire, which usually took place in London. The 1926 Conference met shortly after the League of Nations’ General Assembly in 1926.

The most influential conclusion made at the 1926 Imperial Conference was the Balfour Formula or Balfour Declaration (this should not be confused with the 1917 Balfour Declaration which declared British support for the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine). Arthur Balfour, who had been Prime Minister from 1902-5, and Foreign Secretary from 1916-19, was in 1926 Lord President of the Council, and thus responsible for presiding over meetings of the Privy Council. At the Imperial Conference Balfour chaired the Inter-Imperial Relations Committee, who were appointed on the 25 October 1926 'to investigate all the questions on the Agenda affecting Inter-Imperial Relations.' This Committee was comprised of Prime Ministers and Heads of Delegations. The central conclusion that the Inter-Imperial Relations Committee drew was that the Dominions were, 'autonomous Communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate to one another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by a common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations'. The statement was ratified by the Conference on 19 November 1926.

Notably, this was not a constitution for the British empire, for which some, including Jan Smuts of South Africa, had campaigned. Furthermore, while the report called for an equality of status of the Dominions, it did not suggest that their functions were anything but different. A tension existed between the self-governing Dominions of the British Commonwealth, whose status was addressed at the Imperial Conference, and the non-self-governing elements of the British empire. The unique status of India in terms of self-determination and continuing inclusion in the British empire in some ways set it apart from the Dominions discussed at the Conference. The Maharaja of Burdwan, the representative for India, gave a lengthy opening speech which addressed India’s loyalty to the British empire and her recent economic developments. The discussions were relevant, however, in terms of the continuing evolution of the British empire and Commonwealth. The Formula was enshrined in law only in 1931, under The Statute of Westminster.

Edward VII was crowned in August 1902, some months after the death of his mother Queen Victoria, and about two weeks after he had suffered from appendicitis, which was, unusually for the era, operated upon successfully. He assumed the title, among others, of Emperor of India. The death of Victoria had been ‘profoundly mourned’ in India and was marked by the building of the Victoria Memorial Hall in Calcutta (Gilmour, p. 234). Edward had visited India as Prince of Wales from November 1875 to March 1876, including a brief trip to Ceylon (Sri Lanka). He had been welcomed warmly, and ‘succeeded in winning the affection of the common people of India, as well as the respect and admiration of India’s princes and nobles’ (Magnus, p. 183).

Indian princes who attended the coronation in London included the Maharaja of Jaipur and the Maharaja of Bikanir, both of whom visited the Viceroy Curzon’s ancestral home Kedleston during their time in England. Receptions for Indian princes were overseen by Sir William Curzon Wyllie (no relation to the Viceroy), the political aide-de-camp to the Secretary of State for India.

The celebrations in India, known as the Delhi Durbar or the Imperial Durbar, took place from 29 December 1902 to 10 January 1903, and were attended by the Duke of Connaught, King Edward’s brother. The programme of events lasted a fortnight and were on a scale never before attempted. The Viceroy’s own camp included nearly 3,000 people, and accommodation for the whole event was provided for about 150,000 attendees. On 29 December the Curzons and Connaughts arrived in Delhi by train. They then took part in a state procession through the centre of Delhi and out to the Durbar site by elephant. On New Year’s Day the main ceremony took place, attended by over 300 veterans of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, most of them Indians who had fought on the British side. The Central Camp of the Durbar was about one mile from monument to the Rebellion. For more details see Official Directory (listed below).

Celebrations took place in other Indian towns; for an example see Poems regarding Coronation of His Majesty Edward VII Emperor of India, at Narsipatam Durbar Meeting on 1st January 1903 (listed below).

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.