Ex 1

The difference between 'queen' and 'empress' is that the queen reigns only within her state, while an empress also governs  other foreign states which have been incorporated in her empire.

Ex2

1) Victorian Britain was an empire in contact with various cultures: because the British were able to shape imperial and colonial policy. This was a civic pride for the nation. 

2) It symbolises the great role of the Church, and so of the religion.