[India] A souvenir photo album of the Prince of Wales' Royal Tour to Gwalior

1922. 72 gelatin silver prints mounted on album pages, var. sizes, of the Royal Tour of the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) to the princely state of Gwalior in central India. Photos featuring a.o. the Prince of Wales, scenes of (military) processions, photos of a tiger hunt, horse racing, the Maharaja Scindia, Prince George Jivaji Rao, Princess Mary Kamlaraja, elephant rides and a four-part panoramic view of the Gwalior Army. While the photos are not signed and no photo credit is given, it is likely that R.L. Desai (from Lashkar in Gwalior, active possibly since the late 19th century and definitely in 1922) was the photographer, since the photos in the Royal Trust Collection have been identified as those taken by the same. All photographs w. printed captions in English pasted below. Cont. blindst. ('H.R.H. The Prince of Wales in Gwalior 1922', faded) red cloth, gold and blind-tooled red leather corners, re-backed in gold and blind-tooled cream leather. Obl. folio.

Covers sl. worn, some lvs occas. foxed, but photos in excellent condition. The trip that this album covers proved to one of Britain's worst public relations and diplomatic disasters. While it was intended to shore up relations between the Crown and India, increasing support for Gandhi's self-government movement, resentment at political oppression, poverty and an ongoing famine juxtaposed against the lavishness of the events caused protests and riots throughout the Prince of Wales' visit. His visit to the state of Gwalior was somewhat less fraught and one of the most elaborate spectacles of the India tour.