Ever since Greece had become independent from the Ottoman Empire in 1832, the people of the Ionian islands had pressed for "enosis" with Greece. At a Cabinet meeting in 1862, British Foreign Secretary Palmerston decided to cede the islands to Greece. This policy was also favoured by Queen Victoria. The practical reasoning was that maintenance of ownership in the area was too expensive. Besides, the islands did not have great strategic importance; Britain would still maintain a strategic presence in the Mediterranean from the island of Malta.