New Delhi, Oct. 19 -- In 1875, when the Prince of Wales visited India on a grand public relations tour, officials were confronted with an awkward issue. In keeping with protocol, wherever Queen Victoria's son went, he would receive presents, from representatives of the Indian people as well as assorted rajahs and nawabs. Madurai's residents, for example, offered a beautiful "gold basket". A rani presented a "boomerang of steel inlaid with silver and gold mountings" while a rajah gave a bed of ivory (a naughty gesture, perhaps, given the prince's known proclivity for climbing into beds where he did not belong). Over the next few months, Edward collected over 2,000 items in the subcontinent, ranging from jewellery and armour to nutcrackers....