In 1858, after the dissolution of the East India Company, following the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, India came under the control of the British Crown. In 1877, the British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, had proclaimed Queen Victoria as the Empress of India. The Royal Titles Bill was brought before the British Parliament in 1876, and faced opposition from the Liberals who felt that the title was synonymous with absolutism. The royal title change was announced by Queen Victoria, when she opened the British Parliament in person the first time since the death of her husband Prince Albert. The announcement to this effect was made in India at the Delhi Durbar on 1 January 1877, by the Viceroy of India, Lord Lytton.