Photograph taken in Mumbai during the start of the Prince of Wales' tour of India. Three men dressed in white uniform, wearing plumed pith helmets. Second from the left stands ?the Governor of Madras, Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon (1866-1941). All three face three-quarters to the left. A fourth man, also wearing white uniform and helmet, stands on the left.

On October 26 1921, Edward, Prince of Wales left Portsmouth to begin a tour of the Indian Subcontinent and Japan that covered 41,000 miles, lasting 8 months. Prince Edward spent four months in India, travelling from Bombay to Calcutta and then from Madras to Karachi. As the British Empire's Ambassador, the Prince visited India on behalf of his father King George V, to thank the nation for the essential role it had played during the First World War. Moreover, the visit was intended to strengthen links between Britain and its Empire at a time of increasing calls for Indian independence.