Disraeli, Gladstone, and the Royal Titles Bill, 1876: Part 1

The Royal Titles Bill (1876) proved to be contentious because it raised fraught issues of royal prerogative, constitutional legality, political perspective, parliamentary strategy, journalistic practice, and public opinion. Disraeli insisted that Queen Victoria could choose the supplementary title, empress of India, while Gladstone and his supporters, by means of substitute motions, adjournments, and postponement of decisive divisions, attempted to thwart what he feared were Disraeli's mysterious and dangerous intentions. The acrimonious debates in the house of commons also reflected differences of opinion about historical and immediate contexts – most notably the legacy of the 1858 proclamation of the Government of India Act, and the effects of the government's secret purchase of the khedive of Egypt's shares in the Suez Canal company in November 1875. The government's increased majorities in committee and at third reading indicated that Gladstone's tenacious opposition to the Bill did not have the support of all Liberal MPs.