¹ Duindam, Jeroen, Dynasties: a global history of power, 1300–1800 (Cambridge, 2015)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, provides a masterful account of the phenomenon.

² Aldrich, Robert, Banished potentates: dethroning and exiling indigenous monarchs under British and French colonial rule, 1815–1955 (Manchester, 2018)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

³ Cannadine, David, Ornamentalism: how the British saw their empire (London, 2001)Google Scholar. The contributions in Aldrich, Robert and McCreery, Cindy, eds., Crowns and colonies: European monarchies and overseas empires (Manchester, 2016)Google Scholar; Aldrich, Robert and McCreery, Cindy, eds., Royals on tour: politics, pageantry and colonialism (Manchester, 2018)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and, on the end of empire, Aldrich, Robert and McCreery, Cindy, eds., Monarchies and decolonisation in Asia (Manchester, 2020)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, look at the phenomenon comparatively. Fitzpatrick, Matthew P., The kaiser and the colonies: monarchy in the age of empire (Oxford, 2023)Google Scholar, looks at the phenomenon in the German empire. Banerjee, Milinda, ‘Ocular sovereignty, acclamatory rulership, and political communication: visits of princes of Wales to Bengal’, in Mehrkens, Heidi and Müller, Frank Lorenz, eds., ‘Winning their trust and affection’: royal heirs and the uses of soft power in nineteenth-century Europe (London, 2016), pp. 81–100Google Scholar, offers a fascinating case-study. The chapters in Parker, John, ed., Great kingdoms of Africa (London, 2023)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, provide overviews of non-European monarchies before and after colonization.

⁴ Theron, Bridget, ‘King Cetshwayo in Victorian England. A cameo of imperial interaction’, South African Historical Journal, 56 (2006), pp. 60–87CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁵ Johannes Paulmann, Pomp und Politik: Monarchenbegegnungen in Europa zwischen Ancien Régime und Erstem Weltkrieg (Paderborn, 2000).

⁶ A. Candilio and L. Bressan, ‘Sultan Abu Bakar of Johore’s visit to the Italian king and the pope in 1885’, Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 73 (278) (2000), pp. 43–53; and A. Rahman Tang Abdullah, ‘Sultan Abu Bakar's foreign guests and travels abroad, 1860s–1895: fact and fiction in early Malay historical accounts’, Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 84 (300) (2011), pp. 1–22; and, more generally, Keng We Koh, ‘Travel and survival in the colonial Malay world: mobility, region, and the world in Johor elite strategies, 1818–1914’, Journal of World History, 25 (2014), pp. 559–82. Eunice Thio, ‘British policy towards Johore: from advice to control’, Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 40 (211) (1967), pp. 1–41, looks at the situation in Johore more generally.

⁷ Judy Ayşe Upton-Ward, ‘European–Ottoman relations in the nineteenth century: the visit of Sultan Abdülaziz to Europe’, in Kemal Çiçek, ed., The great Ottoman–Turkish civilization, I (Ankara, 2000), pp. 458–68; and, more detailed, Ali Kemali Aksüt, Sultan Aziz’in Mısır ve Avrupa Seyahati (The travels of Sultan Aziz to Egypt and Europe) (Istanbul, 1944); Cemal Kutay, Sultan Abdülaziz’in Avrupa Seyahati (Sultan Abdülaziz’s travel to Europe) (Istanbul, 1970); and Nihat Karaer, Paris, Londra, Viyana: Abdülaziz’in Avrupa Seyahati (Paris, London, Vienna: Abdülaziz’s travel to Europe) (Istanbul, 2003). For a travel account, written by a clerk of his entourage, see Halimî Efendi, ‘Cennetmekân-ı Firdevsi Âşiyân Sultan Abdülaziz Han Hazretlerinin Avrupa Seyahatnâmesidir’ (‘This is the travelogue of His Excellency, Sultan Abdülaziz Khan, whose soul shall rest in the nests of the highest level of paradise, on Europe’), Tarih-i Osmani Encümeni Mecmuası, 7–8 (1919–21), pp. 90–101. An official report about the visit was published in the official gazette after the sultan’s return, see Takvim-i Vekayi 888 (13 Rabi‘ al-Thani 1284 / 14 Aug. 1867).

⁸ Julie Stewart Williams and Suelyn Ching Tune, Kamehameha II: Liholiho and the impact of change (Honolulu, HI, 2001).

⁹ Ruby Hasegawa Lowe, Kamehameha IV: Alexander Liholiho (Honolulu, HI, 1997), pp. 27–50. The travelogue kept by Liholiho on his 1849–50 journey has been published as Jacob Adler, ed., The journal of Prince Alexander Liholiho: the voyages made to the United States, England and France in 1849–1850 (Honolulu, HI, 1967).

¹⁰ Alfons L. Korn, The Victorian visitors (Honolulu, HI, 1958), pp. 202–88; and George S. Kanahele, Emma: Hawaiʻi's remarkable queen (Honolulu, HI, 1999), pp. 189–225. Queen Emma of Hawai‘i kept a travelogue and wrote letters during her time in Europe; parts of these sources were published in Korn, The Victorian visitors.

¹¹ Helena G. Allen, Kalakaua: Renaissance king (Honolulu, HI, 1995), pp. 108–29; as well as Masaji Marumoto, ‘Vignette of early Hawaii–Japan relations: highlights of King Kalakaua’s sojourn in Japan on his trip around the world as recorded in his personal diary’, Hawaiian Journal of History, 10 (1976), pp. 52–63; Tin-Yuke Char, ‘A Hawaiian king visits Hong Kong, 1881’, Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 16 (1976), pp. 92–106; Eduardo Mayone Dias, ‘Here comes “Kalakana”: King Kalakaua’s visit to Portugal as seen by the Portuguese press’, Biography, 7 (1984), pp. 74–90; Karl R. Wernhart, Der König von Hawaii in Wien 1881: Der Besuch des polynesischen Herrschers Kalakaua (Vienna, 1987); Douglas V. Askman, ‘Kalākaua and the British press: the king’s visit to Europe, 1881’, Hawaiian Journal of History, 52 (2018), pp. 27–55; Cindy McCreery, ‘Orders from disorder? King Kalākaua’s 1881 global tour and the Hawaiian monarchy’s late nineteenth-century deployment of royal orders and decorations’, History Australia, 18 (2021), pp. 219–40; and, focusing on his visits of the non-Western states, Lorenz Gonschor, A power in the world: the Hawaiian kingdom in Oceania (Honolulu, HI, 2019), pp. 76–86. Kalākaua kept a diary during his 1881 journey, which has not been published and is only available in the archives (Bishop Museum Library). His letters home, stored in the Hawai‘i State Archives, were published as ‘The royal tourist: Kalakaua’s letters home from Tokio to London’, ed. Richard A. Greer, Hawaiian Journal of History, 5 (1971), pp. 75–109. William N. Armstrong, Around the world with a king: the story of the circumnavigation of His Majesty King David Kalakaua (New York, 1904), republished in 2000, is a travelogue of a member of his entourage. Pacific Commercial Advertiser Company, ed., King Kalakaua’s tour round the world: a sketch of incidents of travel, with a map of the Hawaiian Islands (Honolulu, HI, 1881), is a contemporary report of events.

¹² Emily V. Warinner, A royal journey to London (Honolulu, HI, 1975). Liliʻuokalani wrote a diary and a memoir, published as David W. Forbes, ed., The diaries of Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii, 1885–1900 (Honolulu, HI, 2019); and Lili‘uokalani, Hawaii’s story by Hawaii’s queen (Boston, 1898).

¹³ Chula Chakrabongse, Lords of life: the paternal monarchy of Bangkok, 1782–1932 (London, 1960), pp. 253–6, provides an overview of the 1897 and 1907 visits. More detailed case-studies are Niels P. Petersson, ‘König Chulalongkorns Europareise 1897: Europäischer Imperialismus, symbolische Politik und monarchisch-bürokratische Modernisierung’, Saeculum, 52 (2001), pp. 297–328; Suphot Manalapanacharoen, ‘König Chulalongkorn und die Stadt Berlin’, in Ulrich van der Heyden and Joachim Zeller, eds., ‘Macht und Anteil an der Weltherrschaft’: Berlin und der deutsche Kolonialismus (Münster, 2005), pp. 251–6; and the chapters in Pornsan Watanangura, ed., The visit of King Chulalongkorn to Europe in 1907: reflecting on Siamese history (Bangkok, 2009). Irene Stengs, Worshipping the great moderniser: King Chulalongkorn, patron saint of the Thai middle class (Singapore, 2009), pp. 55–66, looks at the importance of the visits of 1897 and 1907 in Thai memory culture. Chulalongkorn’s letters and travel notes written during his 1897 visit have been published in Thai. Chulalongkorn’s travelogue, in the form of letters which were sent to his daughter, Niphanophadol, in Bangkok during his 1907 tour, have been published as Chulalongkorn, Klai baan (Far from home) (Bangkok, 1923), and reprinted several times, including as Chulalongkorn, ‘Glai Baan’: Fern von Zuhause, far from home, loin des siens (Bangkok, 1997); German–Thai Society, ed., König Chulalongkorns Reisetagebuch: ‘Glai Baan’ (Fern von Zuhause) 1907 (Bonn, 1998), only includes the letters written from Germany.

¹⁴ Chakrabongse, Lords of life, p. 234.

¹⁵ Narisa Chakrabongse, ed., Letters from St. Petersburg: a Siamese prince at the court of the last tsar (Bangkok, 2022), is the correspondence between the prince and his father, the king, during this time.

¹⁶ Peter Kornicki, ‘First encounters: from 1868 to 1902’, in Peter Kornicki, Antony Best, and Hugh Cortazzi, eds., British and Japanese royal and imperial relations, 1868–2018: 150 years of association, engagement and celebration (Folkestone, 2019), pp. 3–71, looks at several visits of Japanese princes, including Komatsu Akihito (pp. 29–35 and 49–50), Arisugawa Takehito (pp. 45–7), and Fushimi Sadanaru (pp. 47–8); and Antony Best, ‘A royal alliance: court diplomacy, 1902–1941’, in Kornicki, Best, and Cortazzi, eds., British and Japanese royal and imperial relations, 1868–2018, pp. 75–140, offers further insights into the various visits of Japanese princes, including Komatsu Akihito (pp. 78–9), Arisugawa Takehito (p. 82), and Fushimi Sadanaru (pp. 87–90 and 92); and, for an overview, ‘Appendix 1 (Chronology of Royal and Imperial Visits 1868–2018)’, in Kornicki, Best and Cortazzi, eds., British and Japanese royal and imperial relations, 1868–2018, pp. 221–6, shows that there were more than twenty visits of Japanese princes to Europe between 1870 and 1914. Antony Best, British engagement with Japan, 1854–1922: the origins and course of an unlikely alliance (London, 2021), also examines the visits of these princes, including Komatsu Akihito (pp. 37–9 and 158), Arisugawa Takehito (pp. 83–4 and 158), and Fushimi Sadanaru (pp. 155–6).

¹⁷ Izabela Orlowska, ‘Abyssinia’s monarchy and European imperial domination’, in H. E. Chehabi and David Motadel, eds., Unconquered states: non-European powers in the imperial age (forthcoming); and, on Ethiopian–European royal relations more generally, Gian Paolo Calchi Novati, ‘Barbarians, despots or brothers? European diplomacy and Ethiopian monarchs in the XIX century’, Journal of Ethiopian Studies, 40 (2007), pp. 309–30.

¹⁸ David Motadel, The shah’s grand tour: global monarchy in the age of empire (forthcoming). Some thoughts on the visits were published in David Motadel, ‘Qajar shahs in imperial Germany’, Past & Present, 213 (2011), pp. 191–235. The shahs’ travelogues of the 1873, 1878, 1889, 1900, and 1902 visits (none exists for the visit of 1905) were all published. Two of them have been translated into English, as Naser al-Din Shah, Diary of his majesty the shah of Persia during his tour through Europe in A.D. 1873, ed. and trans. James W. Redhouse (London, 1874); Naser al-Din Shah, A diary kept by his majesty the shah of Persia, during his journey to Europe in 1878, ed. and trans. Albert Houtum Schindler and Baron Louis de Norman (London, 1879). The uncensored versions of Nasir al-Din Shah’s travelogues were published by the Iranian National Archive during the 1990s: Ruznama-yi khatirat-i Nasir al-Din Shah dar safar-i avval-i Farangistan (The diary of Nasir al-Din Shah on his first journey to Europe), ed. Fatimah Qaziha (Tehran, 1377/1998); Ruznama-yi khatirat-i Nasir al-Din Shah dar safar-i duvvum-i Farangistan (The diary of Nasir al-Din Shah on his second journey to Europe), ed. Fatimah Qaziha (Tehran, 1379/2000); and Ruznama-yi khatirat-i Nasir al-Din Shah dar safar-i sivvum-i Farangistan (The diary of Nasir al-Din Shah on his third journey to Europe), ed. Fatimah Qaziha and Muhammad Isma‘il Rizvani, 2 vols., I (Tehran 1378/1999), which was first published in 1369/1990, and II (Tehran, 1374/1995), which was first published in 1369/1990. Muzaffar al-Din Shah only produced diaries on his first and second visits; see Muzaffar al-Din Shah Qajar, Safarnama-yi Mubaraka-yi Shahanshahi (Travelogue of the blessed king of kings) (Bombay, 1320/1903), reprinted as Safarnama-yi Mubaraka-yi Muzaffar al-Din Shah bih Farang (The diary of Muzaffar al-Din Shah on his journey to Europe), ed. ‘Ali Dihbashi (Tehran, 1361/1982); and Muzaffar al-Din Shah Qajar, Duvvumin Safarnama-yi Muzaffar al-Din Shah bih Farang (The diary of Muzaffar al-Din Shah on his second journey to Europe), ed. Fakhr al-Mulk (Tehran, 1362/1983).

¹⁹ Mustafa Serdar Palabıyık, ‘The sultan, the shah and the king in Europe: the practice of Ottoman, Persian and Siamese royal travel and travel writing’, Journal of Asian History, 50 (2016), pp. 201–34, at pp. 205–14, on the motives.

²⁰ Motadel, ‘Qajar shahs in imperial Germany’, pp. 192–3.

²¹ Firaydun Adamiyat, Andishah-’i taraqqi va hukumat-i qanun: ‘asr-i Sipahsalar (Tehran, 1351/1972), p. 260; English translation in Naghmeh Sohrabi, Taken for wonder: nineteenth-century travel accounts from Iran to Europe (Oxford, 2012), p. 81.

²² Motadel, ‘Qajar shahs in imperial Germany’, p. 193.

²³ Stengs, Worshipping the great moderniser, p. 61.

²⁴ Ct. in ibid.

²⁵ Pornsan Watanangura, Naruemit Sodsuk, and Khanittha Boonpan, eds., The first visit of King Chulalongkorn to Europe in 1897: a collection of letters and documents from the first visit to Europe of King Chulalongkorn in 1897 (Bangkok, 2003), p. 79.

²⁶ Upton-Ward, ‘European–Ottoman relations in the nineteenth century’, p. 458.

²⁷ Armstrong, Around the world with a king, pp. 6 and 18.

²⁸ Hedley Bull, ‘The emergence of a universal international society’, in Bull and Adam Watson, eds., The expansion of international society (Oxford, 1984), pp. 117–26; and Gerrit Gong, The standard of civilization in international society (Oxford, 1984), are the most important works that look at the ‘expansion of international society’ in terms of non-European adaptation to a European ‘standard of civilization’. Tim Dunne and Christian Reus-Smit, ‘Introduction’, in Dunne and Reus-Smit, eds., The globalization of international society (Oxford, 2017), pp. 3–17; and Dunne and Reus-Smit, ‘The globalization of international society’, in Dunne and Reus-Smit, eds., The globalization, pp. 18–40, offer a critique of this view by arguing that there was a ‘globalization of international society’ which involved both European and non-European countries. More generally, this critique can be seen as part of the more general critique of Eurocentric diffusionism offered by J. M. Blaut, The colonizer’s model of the world: geographical diffusionism and Eurocentric history (New York, NY, 1993), pp. 1–49.

²⁹ Norbert Elias, The civilizing process (2 vols., Oxford, 1969–82). Jeroen Duindam, Myths of power: Norbert Elias and the early modern European court (Amsterdam, 1995), offers a critical assessment.

³⁰ Richard White, The middle ground: Indians, empires, and republics in the Great Lakes region, 1650–1815 (Cambridge, 1991), on the ‘middle ground’; and Homi K. Bhaba, The location of culture (London, 1994), discusses cultural hybridity more generally.

³¹ The literature on the history of monarchy is massive. Among the most influential works in the field, focusing on politics and ritual, are Richard S. Wortman, Scenarios of power: myth and ceremony in Russian monarchy (2 vols., Princeton, NJ, 1995–2000); Matthew Truesdell, Spectacular politics: Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte and the Fête Impérial, 1849–1870 (Oxford, 1997); John C. G. Röhl, The kaiser and his court: Wilhelm II and the government of Germany (Cambridge, 2003), which was first published as Kaiser, Hof und Staat (Munich, 2002); Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger, The Emperor’s Old Clothes: constitutional history and the symbolic language of the Holy Roman Empire (New York, NY, 2015), which was originally published as idem, Des Kaisers alte Kleider: Verfassungsgeschichte und Symbolsprache des Alten Reiches (Munich, 2008); and the contributions published in David Cannadine and Simon Price, eds., Rituals of royalty: power and ceremonial in traditional societies (Cambridge, 1987); Sean Wilentz, ed., Rites of power: symbolism, ritual and politics since the middle ages (Philadelphia, PA, 1985); Janet Nelson and Frans Theuws, eds., Rituals of power: from late antiquity to the early middle ages (Leiden, 2000); and Jörg Berns and Thomas Rahn, eds., Zeremoniell als höfische Ästhetik in Spätmittelalter und Früher Neuzeit (Tübingen, 1995); and the books in the ‘Palgrave Studies in Modern Monarchy’ series. Selim Deringil, The well-protected domains: ideology and the legitimation of power in the Ottoman empire, 1876–1909 (London, 1998); Takashi Fujitani, Splendid monarchy: power and pageantry in modern Japan (Berkeley, CA, 1996); and Edhem Eldem, Pride and privilege: a history of Ottoman orders, medals and decorations (Istanbul, 2004), are some of the most important works on monarchies beyond Europe.

³² Duindam, Dynasties, offers a global comparative study of monarchies in the late medieval and early modern periods. Helen Watanabe-O’Kelly, Projecting imperial power: new nineteenth century emperors and the public sphere (Oxford, 2021), though focusing on European dynasties, is a global comparative study of monarchies in the modern period. Dominic Lieven, In the shadow of the gods: the emperor in world history (London, 2022), provides a broader view. Milinda Banerjee, Charlotte Backerra, and Cathleen Sarti, ‘The royal nation in global perspective’, in Banerjee, Backerra, and Sarti, eds., Transnational histories of the ‘royal nation’ (New York, NY, 2017), pp. 1–17, looks, comparatively, at the nationalization of monarchies around the world, while Dieter Langewiesche, ‘Monarchy – global: monarchical self-assertion in a republican world', Journal of Modern European History, 15 (2017), pp. 280–307, examines, comparatively, the crisis of monarchy. Monarchy is also briefly discussed in the classical works of nineteenth-century global history by C. A. Bayly, The birth of the modern world, 1780–1914: global connections and comparisons (London, 2004), pp. 426–30; and Jürgen Osterhammel, The transformation of the world: a global history of the nineteenth century (Princeton, NJ, 2014), pp. 501–2 and 579–93, which was first published as Jürgen Osterhammel, Die Verwandlung der Welt: Eine Geschichte des 19. Jahrhunderts (Munich, 2009), pp. 718–20 and 828–48.

³³ Reinhard Bendix, Kings or people: power and the mandate to rule (Berkeley, CA, 1978); and Clifford Geertz, ‘Centres, kings and charisma: reflections on the symbolics of power’, in Geertz, Local knowledge: further essays in interpretative anthropology (New York, NY, 1983), pp. 121–46.

³⁴ Paulmann, Pomp und Politik. Major case-studies are Daniela Rosmus, Die Schweiz als Bühne: Staatsbesuche und politische Kultur 1848–1990 (Zurich, 1994); Roderick McLean, Royalty and diplomacy in Europe, 1890–1914 (Cambridge, 2001), pp. 186–21; Nicolas Moll, Besuchspolitik: Staatsbesuche als Ritual und Werkzeug nationalstaatlicher Politik in Deutschland und Frankreich, 1871–1969 (Freiburg, 2002); Ian Radforth, Royal spectacle: the 1860 visit of the prince of Wales to Canada and the United States (Toronto, 2004); Matthew Glencross, The state visits of Edward VII: reinventing royal diplomacy for the twentieth century (London, 2015); and Jan Hennings, Russia and courtly Europe: ritual and the culture of diplomacy, 1648–1725 (Cambridge, 2016). For studies on encounters within the European empires, see the literature in n. 3, especially the important work of David Cannadine and the contributions in the volumes edited by Robert Aldrich and Cindy McCreery. There are numerous case-studies of encounters between European and non-European monarchs; see nn. 6–15 of this article for a full list. Palabıyık, ‘The sultan, the shah and the king in Europe’ looks at motives, organization, and travel writing, but not at the royal encounters themselves.

³⁵ Paulmann, Pomp und Politik, p. 410.

³⁶ Cannadine, Ornamentalism, pp. 6–10.

³⁷ Sadiah Qureshi, Peoples on parade: exhibitions, empire, and anthropology in nineteenth-century Britain (Chicago, IL, 2011), on Britain; Olivier Razac, L’écran et le zoo: spectacle et domestication des expositions coloniales à Loft Story (Paris, 2002), on France; Hilke Thode-Arora, Für fünfzig Pfennig um die Welt: Die Hagenbeckschen Völkerschauen (Frankfurt, 1989); Gabi Eißenberger, Entführt, verspottet und gestorben: Lateinamerikanische Völkerschauen in deutschen Zoos (Frankfurt, 1996); and Anne Dreesbach, Gezähmte Wilde: Die Zurschaustellung ‘exotischer’ Menschen in Deutschland, 1870–1940 (Frankfurt, 2005), on Germany; Werner Michael Schwarz, Anthropologische Spektakel: Zur Schaustellung ‘exotischer’ Menschen, Wien, 1870–1910 (Vienna, 2001), on the Habsburg empire; Rea Brändle, Wildfremd, hautnah: Völkerschauen und ihre Schauplätze in Zürich, 1880–1960 (Zurich, 1995), on Switzerland. The chapters in Nicolas Bancel, Pascal Blanchard, Gilles Boetsch, Éric Deroo, and Sandrine Lemaire, eds., Zoos humains: De la Vénus hottentote aux reality shows (Paris, 2004), provides a broad overview.

³⁸ Ernst H. Kantorowicz, The king’s two bodies: a study in medieval political theology (Princeton, NJ, 1957), famously made this distinction in a different context.

³⁹ Queen Victoria’s journals (Princess Beatrice’s copies), RA, VIC/MAIN/QVJ (W), vol. 54 (1 Dec. 1864 – 31 Dec 1865), pp. 330–1 (Monday, 27 Nov. 1865).

⁴⁰ Ct. in Christopher Hibbert, Edward VII: a portrait (London, 1982), p. 144, which was first published in 1976.

⁴¹ Johannes Paulmann, ‘Searching for a “royal international”: the mechanics of monarchical relations in nineteenth-century Europe’, in Martin H. Geyer and Johannes Paulmann, eds., The mechanics of internationalism: culture, society and politics from the 1840s to the First World War (Oxford, 2001), pp. 145–76, at pp. 148 and 159.

⁴² Upton-Ward, ‘European–Ottoman relations in the nineteenth century’, p. 459.

⁴³ Queen Victoria’s journals (Princess Beatrice’s copies), RA, VIC/MAIN/QVJ (W), vol. 54 (1 Dec. 1864 – 31 Dec. 1865), pp. 258–9 (Saturday, 9 Sept. 1865).

⁴⁴ Ct. in Kanahele, Emma, p. 200.

⁴⁵ Queen Victoria’s journals (Princess Beatrice’s copies), RA, VIC/MAIN/QVJ (W), vol. 54 (1 Dec. 1864 –31 Dec. 1865), pp. 330–1 (Monday, 27 Nov. 1865); and ibid., p. 331 (Tuesday, 28 Nov. 1865).

⁴⁶ Rhoda E. A. Hackler, ‘“My dear friend”: letters of Queen Victoria and Queen Emma’, Hawaiian Journal of History, 22 (1988), pp. 101–30.

⁴⁷ Phaladisai, Sitthithankit, Phra borommarup song ma (The great venerable equestrian statue) (Bangkok, 1994), p. 46. The translation is from Stengs, Worshipping the great moderniser, p. 92. On the photographs, see ibid., pp. 92 and 266 (n. 44); one was printed in the 12 Sept. 1897 issue of L’Illustration.

⁴⁸ Upton-Ward, ‘European–Ottoman relations in the nineteenth century’, p. 460.

⁴⁹ Motadel, The shah’s grand tour.

⁵⁰ Liliʻuokalani, Hawaii’s story by Hawaii’s queen, p. 171.

⁵¹ Motadel, ‘Qajar shahs in imperial Germany’, p. 220.

⁵² Samuel Clark, Distributing status: the evolution of state honours in Western Europe (Montreal, 2016), offers a general account on the politics of medals in European history. Robert Aldrich and Cindy McCreery, ‘European royals and their colonial realms: honors and decorations’, in Christina Jordan and Imke Polland, eds., Realms of royalty: new directions in researching contemporary European monarchies (Bielefeld, 2020), pp. 63–88, on the importance of royal orders within the European colonies and the proliferation of new orders and decorations, both European colonial orders and orders of colonial courts. Eldem, Pride and privilege, looking at the Ottoman empire; and McCreery, ‘Orders from disorder?’, looking at Hawai‘i, are important case-studies on the independent non-European world.

⁵³ John Breen, ‘Ornamental diplomacy’, in Robert Hellyer and Harald Fuess, eds., The Meiji Restoration Japan as a global nation (Cambridge, 2020), pp. 232–48.

⁵⁴ Motadel, ‘Qajar shahs in imperial Germany’, p. 218.

⁵⁵ Hyacinth Louis Rabino, Les tribus du Louristan: Médailles des Qādjārs (Paris, 1916); Hyacinth Louis Rabino, Coins, medals, and seals of the shâhs of Îrân, 1500–1941 (Hertford, 1945); Muhammad Mushiri, ‘Nishan’ha va Midal’ha-yi Iran az Aghaz-i Saltạnat Qajariyyah ta Imruz’, Barrisi’ha-yi Tarikhi, 6 (1972), pp. 185–220; Muhammad Mushiri, ‘Nishan’ha va Midal’ha-yi Iran dar Dawrah-yi Qajar’, Barrisi’ha-yi Tarikhi, 9 (1974), pp. 175–240; Angelo M. Piemontese, ‘The statutes of the Qājār orders of knighthood’, East and West, 19 (1969), pp. 431–73; and H. L. Rabino, ‘Nishan’ha-yi Dawrah-yi Qajar’, trans. Jahangir Qa’im-Maqami, Yaghmā, 18 (1965), pp. 318–23, provide overviews.

⁵⁶ Denis Wright, The Persians amongst the English: episodes in Anglo-Persian history (London, 1985).

⁵⁷ Best, ‘A royal alliance’, p. 79; and Best, British engagement with Japan, 1854–1922, pp. 111–12.

⁵⁸ Upton-Ward, ‘European–Ottoman relations in the nineteenth century’, pp. 462 and 467.

⁵⁹ Queen Victoria’s journals (Princess Beatrice’s copies), RA, VIC/MAIN/QVJ (W), vol. 56 (1 Jan. 1867 – 31 Dec. 1867), pp. 183–6 (Wednesday, 17 July 1867).

⁶⁰ Ibid.

⁶¹ Upton-Ward, ‘European–Ottoman relations in the nineteenth century’, p. 460.

⁶² Ibid., p. 463.

⁶³ Ibid., p. 464.

⁶⁴ McCreery, ‘Orders from disorder?’, on the importance of orders during Kalākaua’s 1881 royal tour.

⁶⁵ Armstrong, Around the world with a king, p. 18.

⁶⁶ Kalākaua to William L. Green (minister of foreign affairs), 6 Apr. 1881, Shanghai, published in ‘The royal tourist’, pp. 78–80, at p. 79.

⁶⁷ Kalākaua to Liliʻuokalani, 10 Aug. 1881, Paris, published in ‘The royal tourist’, pp. 105–6, at p. 105.

⁶⁸ Kalākaua to C. C. Harris (chancellor), 15 Mar. 1881, Tokyo, published in ‘The royal tourist’, pp. 76–8, at p. 77.

⁶⁹ Kalākaua to Liliʻuokalani, 24 July 1881, London, published in ‘The royal tourist’, pp. 99–102, at p. 100.

⁷⁰ Armstrong, Around the world with a king, p. 242.

⁷¹ Marcel Maus, The gift: forms and functions of exchange in archaic societies (London, 1954), p. 1, which was first published as Marcel Maus, ‘Essai sur le don: forme et raison de l’échange dans les sociétés archaïques’, L’Année Sociologique, n.s. 1 (1923–4), pp. 30–186. Natalie Zemon Davis, The gift in sixteenth-century France (Madison, WI, 2000), pp. 3–9, offers an overview of the anthropological literature.

⁷² Rachel Peat, ed., Japan: courts and culture (London, 2020), a catalogue of an exhibition of gifts given by the Japanese imperial dynasty to British royalty, offers some fascinating insights into this dimension.

⁷³ Warinner, A royal journey to London, p. 43.

⁷⁴ Motadel, ‘Qajar shahs in imperial Germany’, p. 218.

⁷⁵ Assef Ashraf, ‘The politics of gift exchange in early Qajar Iran, 1785–1834’, Comparative Studies in Society and History, 58 (2016), pp. 550–76, see particularly pp. 570–5 on gifts in diplomatic relations. Ann K. S. Lambton, ‘Pīshkash: present or tribute?’, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 57 (1994), pp. 145–58, provides a broad overview.

⁷⁶ König Chulalongkorns Reisetagebuch, p. 101 (23rd letter, 83th night, Monday, 17 June 1907).

⁷⁷ Chakrabongse, Lords of life, pp. 254–5.

⁷⁸ Manalapanacharoen, ‘König Chulalongkorn und die Stadt Berlin’, p. 253.

⁷⁹ Upton-Ward, ‘European–Ottoman relations in the nineteenth century’, p. 460

⁸⁰ Ibid., p. 463.

⁸¹ Ibid., p. 464.

⁸² Palabıyık, ‘The sultan, the shah and the king in Europe’, p. 219.

⁸³ Motadel, The shah’s grand tour; and Motadel, ‘Qajar shahs in imperial Germany’, p. 218.

⁸⁴ Best, ‘A royal alliance’, p. 82.

⁸⁵ David Malitz, ‘The monarchs’ new clothes: transnational flows and the fashioning of the modern Japanese and Siamese monarchies’, in Banerjee, Backerra, and Sarti, eds., Transnational histories, pp. 155–75, on sartorial Europeanization. Gonschor, A power in the world, p. 83, offers some thoughts on the case of Hawai‘i. Philip Mansel, Dressed to rule: royal and court costume from Louis XIV to Elizabeth II (New Haven, CT, 2005), offers a more general account of the politics of clothes in the history of Europe’s courts.

⁸⁶ Upton-Ward, ‘European–Ottoman relations in the nineteenth century’, p. 459.

⁸⁷ Chakrabongse, Lords of life, pp. 254–5.

⁸⁸ Motadel, ‘Qajar shahs in imperial Germany’, pp. 214–15.

⁸⁹ Upton-Ward, ‘European–Ottoman relations in the nineteenth century’, p. 463.

⁹⁰ Dias, ‘Here comes “Kalakana”’, p. 76. Armstrong, Around the world with a king, p. 271, reports the incident as well.

⁹¹ Motadel, ‘Qajar shahs in imperial Germany’, pp. 216–17.

⁹² Manalapanacharoen, ‘König Chulalongkorn und die Stadt Berlin’, pp. 253–4.

⁹³ Palabıyık, ‘The sultan, the shah and the king in Europe’, p. 213.

⁹⁴ Anonymous, ‘Visit of the sultan to the city’, Times, 19 July 1867.

⁹⁵ Armstrong, Around the world with a king, p. 236.

⁹⁶ David Motadel, ‘The German other: Shah Nasir al-Din’s perceptions of difference and gender during his visits to Germany, 1873–1889’, Iranian Studies, 44 (2011), pp. 563–79, as well as Upton-Ward, ‘European–Ottoman relations in the nineteenth century’, p. 459.

⁹⁷ Nurfadzilah Yahaya, ‘Class, white women, and elite Asian men in British courts during the late nineteenth century’, Journal of Women’s History, 31 (2019), pp. 101–23, on European attitudes to encounters and relationships between non-European aristocrats (and commoners) and European women in the imperial age.

⁹⁸ Motadel, ‘Qajar shahs in imperial Germany’, p. 235.

⁹⁹ Queen Victoria’s journals (Princess Beatrice’s copies), RA, VIC/MAIN/QVJ (W), vol. 74 (1 Jan. 1881 – 9 Aug. 1881), pp. 261–2 (Monday, 11 July 1881).

¹⁰⁰ Kalākaua to Liliʻuokalani, 24 July 1881, London, published in ‘The royal tourist’, pp. 99–102, at p. 101.

¹⁰¹ Armstrong, Around the world with a king, p. 12.

¹⁰² Motadel, ‘Qajar shahs in imperial Germany’, pp. 226–8.

¹⁰³ Grey to Derby, 9 June 1867, Balmoral, published in The letters of Queen Victoria, second series (1862–78) (2 vols., 1862–9), I, ed. George Earle Buckle (London, 1926), pp. 430–1.

¹⁰⁴ Kalākaua to Liliʻuokalani, 12 July 1881, London, published in ‘The royal tourist’, pp. 93–6, at p. 95.

¹⁰⁵ Armstrong, Around the world with a king, p. 225.

¹⁰⁶ Ibid., p. 216 and, similarly, p. 251.

¹⁰⁷ König Chulalongkorns Reisetagebuch, p. 90 (23rd letter, 79th night, Thursday, 13 June 1907).

¹⁰⁸ Armstrong, Around the world with a king, p. 216.

¹⁰⁹ Motadel, ‘Qajar shahs in imperial Germany’, pp. 231–2.

¹¹⁰ Best, ‘A royal alliance’, p. 82.

¹¹¹ Motadel, ‘Qajar shahs in imperial Germany’, pp. 230–1.

¹¹² Kornicki, ‘First encounters: from 1868 to 1902’, p. 50.

¹¹³ Best, ‘A royal alliance’, 89; and Best, British engagement with Japan, 1854–1922, p. 155.

¹¹⁴ Ct. in Korn, The Victorian visitors, p. 241; and Kanahele, Emma, p. 200.

¹¹⁵ Armstrong, Around the world with a king, p. 231.

¹¹⁶ Ibid., p. 226.

¹¹⁷ Klaus Mühlhahn, ‘Kotau vor dem deutschen Kaiser? Die Sühnemission des Prinzen Chun’, in Mühlhahn and Mechthild Leutner, eds., Kolonialkrieg in China: Die Niederschlagung der Boxerbewegung 1900–1901 (Berlin, 2007), pp. 204–11; Thoralf Klein, ‘Sühnegeschenke: Der Boxerkrieg’, in Van der Heyden and Joachim Zeller, eds., ‘Macht und Anteil an der Weltherrschaft‘, pp. 208–14; and Firuza I. Melville, ‘Khosrow Mirza’s mission to St Petersburg in 1829’, in Stephanie Cronin, ed., Iranian–Russian encounters: empires and revolutions since 1800 (New York, NY, 2013), pp. 69–94.

¹¹⁸ Upton-Ward, ‘European–Ottoman relations in the nineteenth century’, p. 459; and Motadel, ‘Qajar shahs in imperial Germany’, p. 209.

¹¹⁹ Wernhart, Der König von Hawaii in Wien 1881, especially, for an overview, pp. 142–3.

¹²⁰ John Vincent, ed., Disraeli, Derby and the Conservative party: journals of Edward Henry, Lord Stanley, 1849–1869 (Hassocks, 1978), p. 309 (21 May 1867).

¹²¹ Ct. in Upton-Ward, ‘European–Ottoman relations in the nineteenth century’, p. 459.

¹²² Grey to Derby, 9 June 1867, Balmoral, published in The letters of Queen Victoria, I, pp. 430–1.

¹²³ Derby to Victoria, 3 July 1867, London, published in ibid., pp. 441–2, at p. 441.

¹²⁴ Victoria to Derby, 4 July 1867, Windsor, published in ibid., pp. 442–4, at pp. 442–3.

¹²⁵ Volker Barth, Inkognito: Geschichte eines Zeremoniells (Munich, 2013), on the history of incognito as a ceremonial form of travel.

¹²⁶ Vincent O’Malley, ‘Kingitanga and crown: New Zealand’s Maori king movement and its relationship with the British monarchy’, in Aldrich and McCreery, eds., Crowns and colonies, pp. 163–76, at pp. 168–9; and Michael Belgrave, Dancing with the king: the rise and fall of the king country, 1864–1885 (Auckland, 2017), pp. 294–338.

¹²⁷ Neil Parsons, King Khama, Emperor Joe, and the great white queen: Victorian Britain through African eyes (Chicago, IL, 1998).

¹²⁸ A. C. Wood, ‘The English embassy at Constantinople, 1660–1762’, English Historical Review, 40 (1925), pp. 533–61; Tseng-Tsai Wang, ‘The audience question: foreign representatives and the emperor of China, 1858–1873’, Historical Journal, 14 (1971), pp. 627–34; James L. Hevia, ‘The Macartney embassy in the history of Sino-Western relations’, in Robert A. Bickers, ed., Ritual and diplomacy: the Macartney mission to China, 1792–1794 (London, 1993), pp. 57–79; James Hevia, Cherishing men from afar: Qing guest ritual and the Macartney embassy of 1793 (London, 1995); John Breen, ‘The rituals of Anglo-Japanese diplomacy: imperial audiences in early Meiji Japan’, in Gordon Daniels and Chihiro Tsuzuki, eds., The history of Anglo-Japanese relations, V: The social and cultural perspectives, 1600–2000 (New York, NY, 2002), pp. 60–76; Sabine Mangold, ‘Oriental slowness? Friedrich Rosen’s expedition to the sultan of Morocco’s court in 1906’, in Markus Mösslang and Torsten Riotte, eds., The diplomats’ world: the cultural history of diplomacy, 1815–1914 (Oxford, 2008), pp. 255–83; and Antony Best, ‘The role of diplomatic practice and court protocol in Anglo-Japanese relations, 1867–1900’, in Mösslang and Riotte (eds.), The diplomats’ world, pp. 231–53, provide studies of receptions of Europeans at sovereign non-European courts. A fascinating Western source of these encounters is Lord Macartney, An embassy to China, ed. J. L. Cranmer-Byng (London, 1962).

¹²⁹ Friedrich Scherer, Adler und Halbmond: Bismarck und der Orient, 1878–1890 (Paderborn, 2001), pp. 319–32, on Wilhelm II’s first visit; Jan Stefan Richter, Die Orientreise Kaiser Wilhelm II. 1898: Eine Studie zur deutschen Aussenpolitik an der Wende zum 20. Jahrhundert (Hamburg, 1997); Alex Carmel and Ejal Jakob Eisler, Der Kaiser reist ins Heilige Land: Die Palästinareise Wilhelms II., 1898 (Stuttgart, 1999); and, for concise accounts, Horst Gründer, ‘Die Kaiserfahrt Wilhelm II. ins Heilige Land 1898: Aspekte deutscher Palästinapolitik im Zeitalter des Imperialismus’, in Heinz Dollinger, Horst Gründer, and Alwin Hanschmidt, eds., Weltpolitik – Europagedanke – Regionalismus (Münster, 1982), pp. 363–88; and Matthew P. Fitzpatrick, ‘Performing monarchy: the kaiser and kaiserin’s voyage to the Levant, 1898’, in Aldrich and McCreery, eds., Royals on tour, pp. 110–24; and the chapters published in Klaus Jaschinski and Julius Waldschmidt, eds., Des Kaisers Reise in den Orient, 1898 (Berlin, 2002), on the second visit; and Serpil Kırel and Oya Kasap Ortaklan, ‘Alman İmparatoru II. Wilhelm’in Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nu Son Ziyareti (1917)’, Sinecine, 9 (2018), pp. 113–58, on the final visit. Bernhard Kronegger, ‘Imperial pilgrimage to Jerusalem: the journeys of Franz Joseph and Wilhelm II between religious tradition and political calculation’, Römische Historische Mitteilungen, 61 (2019), pp. 117–34; and Lukas Hofmann, ‘Der Staatsbesuch Kaiser Karls I. in Konstantinopel und die Beziehungen zwischen Österreich-Ungarn und dem Osmanischen Reich im Ersten Weltkrieg’ (Diplom thesis, Vienna, 2012), on the Habsburg visits.

¹³⁰ Dana Bentley-Cranch, Edward VII: image of an era, 1841–1910 (London, 1992), pp. 40–2, on Prince Albert Edward’s journey. Warinner, A royal journey to London, pp. 42–3; Donald Keene, Emperor of Japan: Meiji and his world, 1852–1912 (New York, NY, 2002), pp. 183–7; and Kornicki, ‘First encounters: from 1868 to 1902’, pp. 13–29, and, for an eyewitness report, Liliʻuokalani, Hawaii’s story by Hawaii’s queen, pp. 30–4, on Prince Alfred’s journey. Keene, Emperor of Japan, pp. 350–1; and Kornicki, ‘First encounters: from 1868 to 1902’, pp. 35–43 and 55, on the journeys of Prince George and Prince Albert Victor. Keene, Emperor of Japan, pp. 632–6 and 711; Kornicki, ‘First encounters: from 1868 to 1902’, pp. 43–4; and Best, ‘A royal alliance’, pp. 83–7 and 93–4, on Arthur of Connaught’s journeys. Keene, Emperor of Japan, p. 321; and Kornicki, ‘First encounters: from 1868 to 1902’, p. 52, on Prince Heinrich’s journey. Keene, Emperor of Japan, p. 224; and Kornicki, ‘First encounters: from 1868 to 1902’, p. 27, on Grand Duke Alexei Aleksandrovich’s journey. Keene, Emperor of Japan, pp. 445–53; and Kornicki, ‘First encounters: from 1868 to 1902’, pp. 51–2 and 55, on Grand Duke Nicholas’s journey. Keene, Emperor of Japan, p. 321; and Kornicki, ‘First encounters: from 1868 to 1902’, p. 52, on Prince Tommaso’s journey. Chakrabongse, Lords of life, p. 235, on Prince Waldemar’s journey. Miriam Magdalena Schneider, The ‘sailor prince’ in the age of empire: creating a monarchical brand in nineteenth-century Europe (London, 2017), looks at the phenomenon of the ‘sailor prince’ in comparative perspective.

¹³¹ Literature in nn. 11, 16, and 17. Rebecca E. Karl, Staging the world: Chinese nationalism at the turn of the twentieth century (Durham, NC, 2002), pp. 58–63, offers some insights into the lack of formal reception in Qing China.

¹³² Armstrong, Around the world with a king, pp. 73–7.

¹³³ Marumoto, ‘Vignette of early Hawaii–Japan relations’, p. 60.

¹³⁴ Paul Kennedy, The rise and fall of the great powers (New York, NY, 1987).