[1] Sousa received permission to dedicate the march to Edward VII during a conversation with the royal family after his command performance concert at Sandringham on December 1, 1901.

On December 1, 1901, at Sandringham House, Sousa and his band played a command performance in honor of Queen Alexandra’s birthday.

After the performance, in a conversation with the royal family, Sousa "requested and received permission" to dedicate a march to King Edward VII.

[3][4] Sousa's tour was mildly caricatured in Harper's Weekly as the "American invasion, or rag time at the Court of St.

[6] The cover of the John Church sheet music states that the march is "Respectfully dedicated by special permission to His Most Gracious Majesty Edward VII.

[1] This illuminated manuscript was brought to England by George Frederick Hinton, manager of the Sousa Band, and is currently held at the British Museum.

[2] "Imperial Edward" was among the pieces performed, along with "El Capitan," "Hands Across the Sea," “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” and "God Save the King."

[1] When the Sousa Band performed "Imperial Edward," it was "customary" for the trombone section "to rise...play the brief solo fortissimo, and then be seated.

Piccolo, E-flat clarinet, cornets, trombones, and cymbals are tacet first time, and all remaining voices play in piano.