A pencil and wash drawing depicting Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales, riding in a howdah on the back of an elephant. Inscribed, dated and signed: Visit of H.R.H. The Prince of Wales to Parbutty Hill, Poonah. 15th Nov. 1875./ Wm Simpson.

In October 1875, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and later King Edward VII (r.1901-10), embarked on an extensive tour of the Indian subcontinent. The Prince of Wales visited more than 21 towns and cities across parts of modern-day India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal before returning to England in May 1876. Albert Edward’s tour of India was envisaged as a way of forging diplomatic links between the Indian rulers and the British Crown. The Prince exchanged gifts with each ruler he met and some of the most significant Indian works of art in the Royal Collection today were acquired during this tour. On his return to England, Albert Edward arranged for these to be exhibited to the wider public, first at the South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria & Albert Museum) and then at nine further venues across England, Scotland and Europe. In England and Scotland alone, more than 2.5 million visitors saw the Indian works of art. 

The prince visited Poona (Pune) during his three-week stay in Bombay (Mumbai) at the beginning of the tour, and it was the occasion of his first elephant ride. This illustration was reproduced in one of the special supplements published by the Illustrated London News as part of their coverage of the tour (18 December 1875).

William Simpson was an artist and lithographer who worked for the Illustrated London News as a Special Artist from 1866. He was sent by that newspaper in October 1875 to India to cover the tour made by the Prince of Wales; he had previously spent three years travelling in the Indian subcontinent. In 1876 over 200 of his sketches from the tour were exhibited at the Burlington Gallery; the Prince of Wales visited the exhibition and bought fifteen sketches, and Queen Victoria later saw his drawings at Windsor Castle and acquired four. Twelve of the works bought by Albert Edward were reproduced as photographic illustrations in a separate publication by Simpson (see RCIN 1054595).