Scenes at his Excellency the Viceroy's Garden Party at Belvedere — extracts

Image from Scenes at his Excellency the Viceroy's Garden Party at Belvedere

1926

This garden party given by Lord Irwin, then Viceroy of India, during the Calcutta ‘season’ feels distinctly like the awkward ‘bridge party’ — i.e. bridging the two nations — in E. M. Forster's novel A Passage to India. High ranking Brits and Indians sit together sipping tea and eating cakes. Guests include Lord Lytton (Governor of Bengal), Colonel McKenzie, his military secretary, and Mrs. McKenzie. At the childrens' table with Davina Lytton are a young Indian prince (?), and one of Lord Irwin's sons. Unfortunately none of the Indian guests are documented.