Queen Victoria's impact on the British Monarchy

  Queen Victoria (1837-1901) is synonymous with the British Empire. It was under her reign that the colonial Empire expanded rapidly to the point where “the sun never sets on the British Empire”.
  Victoria's relationship with India is best described as exoticizing and orientalist. She styled herself in the 1860s as “Empress of India”, a title that would later be officially bestowed upon her by Parliament in 1876. […]
  Victoria was well informed of colonial policy; whilst she was a self-declared anti-racist and humanitarian, she was an advocate for benevolent imperialism everywhere. She justified the Empire on the basis that the British were kind rulers, especially compared to other Europeans. […]
  Under Victoria, members of the Royal family began to participate more in the ceremonial activities. Her son and heir, the future Edward VII, visited India many times in an official capacity. These visits are the origins of the modern-day Commonwealth tour and the “PR Monarchy.” As the Monarchy gradually lost more of its political power over the running of the Empire, they assumed more and more ceremonial power. The Royal family came to be the pinnacle of the Empire and the symbol of imperial rule around the globe.