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Punch cartoon by Tenniel of Queen Victoria and Disraeli, 15 April 1876 (Getty Images) View more images
In 1876 Victoria became Empress of India. In 1858 the Crown had taken over absolute rule of India from the East India Company. This was as the Sepoy Rebellion (aka Indian Mutiny) was being quelled. Victoria now represented the height of British imperial symbolism.
It was Disraeli's doing and he brought it about largely to flatter the Queen's own imperialist aspirations. She in turn created Disraeli Earl of Beaconsfield. The magazine Punch observed, 'One Good Turn Deserved Another'. This was slightly unfair because Disraeli could have, if he had so wished, received a peerage much earlier. (See below).
As for the monarch's new dignity there was popular concern that this should not be seen as despotism as some suggested. The popular Novra and d'Este composition, Long Life to the Empress of India & God Save Old England's Queen included the lines:
ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýDo they think because Empress they call her
ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýThat her rule more despotic will be?
ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýAh! No! For all those who advise her
ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýKnow that Britons must ever be free
The Prince of Wales decided to make a tour to the subcontinent and in doing so was determined to enjoy himself. Victoria did not care for his going insisting that as his visit was not a state occasion, he had no official standing and that a difficult matter of precedence would be created because, by very definition, the viceroy was her constitutional alter ego.
Victoria's objections could not stop the visit. During the tour, the Prince of Wales was clearly disquieted by the attitude of British officials towards Indians. He wrote to Victoria that he was unhappy about the "…rude and rough manner with which English political officers treat the princes and chiefs upon whom they were appointed to attend". To Lord Salisbury he complained about the "…disgraceful usage of nigger…". And to Lord Granville: "Because a man has a black face and a different religion from ones own there is no reason why he should be treated like a brute".
Disraeli was Baptized in 1817 and was articled to a solicitor but first became known neither as a politician nor as a lawyer but as an author with his first novel Vivien Grey in 1826. He became an MP in 1837, the year Victoria became queen. Five years later he was leading the Young England group of Tories. His attack on Peel over the Corn Laws devastated the Prime Minister's career. In 1852, with the Prime Minister, Derby, in the Lords, Disraeli as well as being Chancellor was Tory leader in the Commons. In 1868 he was briefly Prime Minister, but when defeated, instead of accepting a peerage, he asked that his wife should be created Viscountess Beaconsfield - so she was. He became Prime Minister again in 1874. The following year Disraeli arranged for Britain to buy half shares in the Suez Canal. He left office in 1880. Victoria is said to have sent primroses for his coffin.
That the Prince of Wales, determined to have a good time on the tour of India had his staff arrange pig-sticking and had his own string of polo ponies taken in the royal fleet.
Long Life to the Empress of India & God Save Old England's Queen by Novra and d'Este
Here's long life to the Queen of Old England
And all honour be giv'n to her name.
For whate'er politicians may call her
Our Queen will be ever the same.
A sovereign whose virtues endear her
To ev-er-y true British heart,
And the love that her subjects have lavished
Will ne'er for a title depart.
Then let us all true Britons together,
Who loy'l to our sovereign have been,
Sing long live the Empress of India
And God save old England's Queen.
Do they think because Empress they call her
That her rule more despotic will be?
Ah! No! For all those who advise her
Know that Britons must ever be free.
And the lion, tho' tame and unheeding,
When allow'd at his ease to remain
Would soon rise up in terrible fury
If they only but show'd him the chain
So long life to the Queen of old England,
And when heaven has called her to rest
May the prince who we trust will succeed her
With ev-er-y bounty be bless'd.
And e'en if King Emp'ror they call him
We know that no tyrant he'll be,
For he's English and English blood tells him
That Britons must ever be free.
