India The first official Golden Jubilee celebrations were in the
Indian Empire, and began in February to avoid the summer heat. Events took place across India on Jubilee Day, 16 February, orchestrated by the
Viceroy,
Lord Lytton, although his attempts to link the event with the perceived success of the British administration were mostly ignored by local rulers. A
durbar in Bombay (now
Mumbai) was attended by
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught. Additionally, Victoria had a contingent of cavalry from the
British Indian Army brought to London to be her personal escort, and engaged two Indian Muslims as waiters, one of whom was
Abdul Karim. Invitations to the jubilee celebrations were extended to the rulers of the Indian
Princely States, several of whom were willing to make the lengthy journey to London.
20 June On 20 June 1887, the Queen had breakfast outdoors under the trees at
Frogmore, where
Prince Albert had been buried. She wrote in her diary:
21 June The next day, the Queen participated in a procession in an open
landau, drawn by six cream-coloured horses, through
London to
Westminster Abbey escorted by Colonial Indian cavalry. She refused to wear a crown, wearing instead a bonnet and a long dress. The procession through London, according to
Mark Twain, "stretched to the limit of sight in both directions". The spectators were accommodated on terraced benches along 10 miles of scaffolding erected for the purpose. During the service, a beam of sunlight fell upon her bowed head, which the future Queen
Liliʻuokalani of
Hawaiʻi observing noted as a mark of divine favour. On her return to the palace, she went to her balcony and was cheered by the crowd. In the ballroom she distributed brooches made for the Jubilee to her family.
Aldershot review On 9 July, Victoria and other members of the royal family attended a Jubilee Field State Review of the
British Army at
Aldershot. The total number of troops participating was over 58,000; including 21,200 regular soldiers, 4,500
Militia, 270
Yeomanry and 33,000
Volunteers. The Queen, with an escort of the
10th Royal Hussars in which
Prince Albert Victor was serving, received an address by the
Commander-in-Chief of the Forces,
Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, and then watched the entire force march past in review. Although the ground had been watered that morning by two
traction engines, the passing of so many boots and hooves threw up great clouds of dust, to the annoyance of the huge crowd of spectators. Following lunch in a specially erected
pavilion, the Queen returned to Windsor by train.
Spithead review showing the royal yacht reviewing the lines of warships at the Spithead review. On 23 July, Victoria and the royal family attended a Jubilee
Fleet Review at
Spithead offshore from
Portsmouth. Present were more than one hundred
Royal Navy warships and dozens of other vessels. The British fleet included 26
ironclads, 14
cruisers, 31
gunboats and 38
torpedo boats; between them these ships carried 442 guns and were manned by 16,136 officers and
ratings. Also present were several foreign warships, as well as
troopships, large merchant ships, yachts and numerous small craft filled with spectators. The Queen and other important guests passed along the lines of anchored ships in a flotilla led by the
royal yacht, . That night, the ships were illuminated by their searchlights. A report for the
United States Navy described the review as "the most imposing ever seen afloat".
Other events At the Jubilee, the Queen engaged two Indian Muslims as waiters; Mohammed Buksh and
Abdul Karim. A
commemorative bust of Victoria was commissioned from the sculptor
Francis John Williamson. Many copies were made, and distributed throughout the
British Empire. Writer and geographer
John Francon Williams published
The Jubilee Atlas of the British Empire especially to commemorate Victoria's Jubilee and her Jubilee year. Many British towns and cities commissioned new monuments, public clocks or buildings to mark the event, including Queen's Arcade in
Leeds, the
Jubilee Memorial, Harrogate, the
Jubilee Clock Tower, Weymouth, the
Jubilee Clock Tower, Brighton and the
Clock Tower, Crewe. On 20 September 1889, using £70,000 raised to mark her Golden Jubilee, Queen Victoria issued a Royal Charter and the Queen Victoria's Jubilee Institute for Nurses was constituted. ==Gallery==