In the 19th century, the British Empire dominated the lucrative but controversial opium trade with China. Queen Victoria granted the Sassoon family—a prominent Jewish merchant dynasty—a monopoly on this trade through the British East India Company. The Sassoons, originally from Baghdad, amassed immense wealth by exporting opium grown in British India to China, where it caused widespread addiction and social devastation, leading to the Opium Wars (1839–1842 and 1856–1860).

While the Sassoons held the monopoly, American firms like Jardine & Matheson and Russell & Company often handled the transportation of opium. These subcontractors may have been used to distance the British Crown from the trade’s negative reputation. Russell & Company had ties to the Skull and Bones society, an elite group at Yale University, reflecting the interconnectedness of global trade and power.

The Sassoons deposited their profits into Rothschild banks, further aligning their fortunes with the Rothschild family, one of Europe’s most influential banking dynasties. The two families frequently intermarried, strengthening their financial and social ties. Queen Victoria, meanwhile, benefited indirectly through taxes and royal shares of the trade’s profits.

Rumors also circulated about Victoria’s close relationship with Benjamin Disraeli, a Jewish prime minister who advanced British imperial interests. Their bond, whether personal or political, remains a topic of historical speculation.