Particularly noticeable was the contrast between the close friendships of Queen Victoria and George V with Indians (King George refused to hear the word "native" spoken in his presence), and the patronising attitude of officials, who frequently treated the ruling princes — who ran a third of India semi-independently — as foolish adolescents. As the size of the British community living in India grew, so did the life of increasingly segregated institutions: the tennis and polo clubs and the tea parties so well portrayed by E.M. Forster. But to my grandmother arriving in the country for the first time, Indians were equals.  

Did the Coronation Durbar succeed in its aim of stemming the tide of nationalism and entrenching British power? My grandmother witnessed the astonishing loyalty that had swept over the country during the King's visit. With his deep respect for the maharajas, the King had soothed sensibilities bruised by the colonial government's high-handedness, reaffirming Britain's promises in the most uncompromising words: "Ever to maintain the privileges, rights and dignities of the Indian Princes, who may rest assured that this pledge is inviolate and inviolable." 

In return, the princes communicated to the prime minister their own pledge, their indissolubly linked destiny and their loyal and loving homage to the Crown. The King's historic visit, they wrote, marked the beginning of a new era. India was proud of its place in the empire. To prove itself worthy it would seek to quell internal animosities and would freely cooperate with England in working out its future. 

But it was not to be. The plan for London to hand over through the princes a devolved power structure, in which democracy and the rule of law would eventually be secured, never materialised. The princes were not to hold the key to India's future. Significant numbers of the rising middle class resented their colonial status. And great changes were coming. The First World War was three years away, the Russian Revolution six, and with them the overthrow of every European empire except the British. In 1915 Gandhi would return from South Africa to campaign for the removal of foreign powers from India. The massacre at Amritsar in 1919 would leave an indelible stain on the Raj.