The Prince first met the 12-year old Gaekwar of Baroda during a reception in Bombay. Russell recorded that during this first meeting

all eyes were dazzled when Maharaja Syajee Rao […] stood at the threshold of the door a crystallised rainbow [...] He was weighted, head, neck, chest, arms, fingers, ankles, with such a sight and wonder of vast diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and pearls.

William Howard Russel

This photograph of the Gaekwar was probably taken shortly after the reception in Bombay and shows the ruler wearing many of the gifts that the Prince presented to him, such as the commemorative medal, presentational sword, belt, chain and book all decorated with the Prince of Wales’s feathers.