Buckingham Palace Dinner Party for Indian Princes

Buckingham Palace Dinner Party for Indian Princes

Monarchies represent a tie to ancient forms of kinship and possession (of territory, people and the past). Yet the interwar age saw royal figures adapt to the threats and opportunities of internationalism. For centuries, the British royal family had stretched its sovereign bonds internationally across the globe, represented by Queen Victoria assuming the title in 1876 of Empress of India. On 4th November 1930 King-Emperor George V welcomed a special delegation of his subjects to Buckingham Palace, those ‘Indian Princes’ who were participating in the Round Table Conference. Many of these, like the Maharaja of Bikaner, were international statesmen in their own right, having participated in the First World War, signed the Treaty of Versailles, and represented India at the League of Nations. Whilst non-royal Indian delegates were invited to an afternoon tea party at the Palace, only the royal ‘Princes’ (Maharajas, a Nawab and the Aga Khan) were invited for a lavish dinner (the Prince’s wives were scheduled to have a private meeting with Queen Mary). The seating plan visually illustrates how an international conference allowed two aristocratic and royal hierarchies, European and Indian, to fit together, over dinner.

Royal Archives, Windsor, UK