A Fellow of the Royal Society, an honour awarded in 1882 that Mundella described as "the most agreeable and distinguished that could fall upon me", he belonged to the Reform, Savile, and Athenaeum Clubs. He also, in 1884, became President of the Sunday School Union, a position he deeply valued. He possessed the talent to attract and retain many friends, and while he was eternally faithful to the workers from whom he had sprung, and determined to remain close to his roots, his elevation in political life brought him into the sphere of the rich, the aristocratic, and the royal. After her initial suspicion, Queen Victoria learned to care deeply for him and was distressed by his death. She claimed Mundella reminded her "so much" of John Brown (her favoured outdoor servant). She invited him for weekends at Windsor, Osborne, and Sandringham.