By Rachel Peat Underhill, Curator of Decorative Arts

Reading time: 5 minutes 

In 1901, the future King George V and Queen Mary (the Duke and Duchess of York at the time) set sail on a voyage spanning the British Empire. It was the most extensive British royal tour ever undertaken. The royal couple travelled almost 50,000 miles over nine months, visiting Malta, Aden, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Singapore, Australia, Mauritius, Southern Africa, New Zealand and Canada. 

A commercial ship, HMS Ophir, was extensively refitted and refurbished for the royal passengers. This photograph of the barrel-vaulted saloon gives a suggestion of the luxurious accommodation prepared for the duke and duchess at sea. However, it did not prevent the duchess from suffering terrible seasickness during the voyage.

Over 500 crew and staff accompanied the royal couple, as well as tour artists like Eduardo de Martino and Sydney Prior Hall, who captured scenes of the voyage. 

Purpose of the tour

The meticulous itinerary included military reviews, visits to hospitals and giving addresses. The main purpose of the tour was to open the new Federal Parliament in Melbourne, Australia. It was also an opportunity to strengthen bonds with Britain’s colonies and with the semi-independent Dominions. In particular, the royal family wanted to acknowledge the role played by the British Empire in the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899–1901) - a conflict between British and Boer (Afrikaner) forces for influence in Southern Africa, in which over 400,000 imperial troops served.

This monumental painting by the Australian artist, Tom Roberts, records the opening of the Federal Parliament, which was attended by over 12,000 people. It is over 5 metres wide and took Roberts more than two years to complete. Roberts received an invitation to attend the opening, but later recalled that, unable to find a seat, he climbed 

up some rails… to see that immense gathering of people…The heads on the floor looked like a landscape stretching away

 

In this painting, Senators and Members of the House of Representatives wear dark clothing in mourning for Queen Victoria’s recent death, but the gloom is relieved by a shaft of light illuminating the duke on the dais. The duke recalled: 

I then read my…message from the King & declared the first Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia open in his name. I also read out a telegram which I received from Papa [King Edward VII] wishing Australia happiness & prosperity, which was greatly applauded by all present

 

At the end of the tour, the duke calculated that he had shaken hands with over 35,000 people, presented 4,329 medals and laid 21 foundation stones. Both the duke and duchess recorded in their diaries their impressions of the varied landscape, architecture and cultures they encountered. In Banff, Canada, the duke wrote:

The whole scenery we have passed through today is so grand & magnificent that it baffles description

 

Royal Collecting

The tour also profoundly shaped the royal family's taste in art. At each location the duke and duchess made purchases of the finest work,  including precious stones, silks and silver ornaments in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and wool rugs in New Zealand. Colonial officials and Indigenous communities also welcomed the couple with gifts. These presents were important expressions of local identity and often reflected the region’s most outstanding materials and techniques. 

In Australia, the ladies of Adelaide commissioned a silk hanging embroidered with a eucalyptus tree and local iris and orchids. The six flowering eucalyptus branches represent the six provinces. Contemporary newspapers described this hanging as 'the finest piece of art needlework ever executed in South Australia'. The intertwined branches represent the unity of Australia and the Commonwealth.

In Canada, the Tsimshian First Nation presented a precious headdress made from ermine and mother of pearl which had been inherited by successive generations of chiefs. 

Meetings with Indigenous communities were central to the itinerary. These often included a ceremonial welcome or demonstrations of horsemanship, craft and song. In Rotorua, New Zealand, almost 5,000 Māori gathered to greet the duke and duchess with haka and poi dances.

An ornately carved Māori war canoe (waka taua) was presented by Te Pokiha Taranui (known as 'Major Fox') on behalf of the Arawa people. He had established close relations with the Crown during Queen Victoria's reign, and saw the visit as an opportunity to cement links with a new generation of the British royal family.  

These meetings were usually co-ordinated – or even controlled – by the colonial government, which limited local communities’ access to the royal visitors. However, they also provided significant opportunities to articulate their own relationship to the Crown and to raise grievances. At a First Nations gathering in Calgary, Canada, the Chiefs of the Blackfoot (Siksika), Blood (Kainai), Peiigan (Piikani), Sarcee (Tsuut'ina) and Cree gave a speech reminding the duke and duchess of treaties made with Queen Victoria. Between 1871 and 1921, a series of 11 'numbered treaties' were agreed between the First Nations of Canada and the Crown. These agreements promised reserve lands, annuities and fishing and hunting rights in exchange for Indigenous lands.

Photographing the Voyage

The tour was closely covered by the British and colonial press. Photographs and newspaper reports presented an image of a new generation of fashionable but dutiful royals on the world stage. At the same time, they gave the British Government an opportunity to project a message of a flourishing, powerful empire. 

After the tour, the duchess arranged photographs in scrapbooks with her own handwritten captions. This page spread shows scenes from Canada, where they travelled over 7,000 miles on a specially-prepared train. The album contains 214 photographs of the tour, arranged over 60 pages and records the places and people that they encountered. 

Return to Britain

On their return to Britain, the duke and duchess arranged for their gifts to be exhibited to the public. Tens of thousands of visitors came to see them on display at the Imperial Institute in South Kensington, London. Their presentation helped shape British perceptions of the wider world.

The experiences of the tour continued to shape the royal couple long after they became King George V and Queen Mary. A handwritten note in Queen Mary’s diary indicates she was re-reading her entries from the voyage almost 50 years later.