Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein
Encyclopedia
Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein GCB GCVO DSO
KStJ
(Christian Victor Albert Ludwig Ernst Anton; 14 April 1867 – 29 October 1900) was a member of the British Royal Family
. He was the eldest son of Princess Helena
, third daughter of Queen Victoria.
. His father was Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein
, the third son of Christian, Duke of Augustenborg
and Countess Louise of Danneskjold-Samsøe. His mother was The Princess Helena
, the fifth child and third daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. His parents resided in the United Kingdom
, at Cumberland Lodge
, and the Prince was considered a member of the British Royal Family. Under letters patent
of 1866, he was styled His Highness Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein.
, Magdalen College, Oxford
and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
, was commissioned in the 60th King's Royal Rifles in 1888 and served later in the 4th King's Royal Rifle Corps
. He served at Hazara 1891, Mirzanai 1891, Ashanti 1895 and Nile 1898.
"Christle", as the Prince was known in the family, was the first member of the Royal Family
to attend school instead of being educated by a tutor at home. That he studied at Wellington College made Queen Victoria very happy, as Prince Albert had helped to establish the institution many years before. At Wellington
he played for the college First Eleven in 1883 and was captain of the cricket
team in 1885. He was also captain of the cricket team while at Magdalen College and at Sandhurst, and made a single first-class
appearance, for I Zingari
against Gentlemen of England in 1887, scoring 35 and 0. He remains the only member of the British royal family to play cricket at such a high level.
officer in the 60th King's Royal Rifles in 1888. He fought under Lord Kitchener in 1898 when the British troops defeated the Dervishes at Omdurman
near Khartoum
and recovered the Sudan
. He participated also in the Ashanti Expedition to Ghana
. In 1900 he served in the Boer War
under Lord Roberts
.
, he came down with malaria, and died of enteric fever, on 29 October, aged 33, after receiving the Holy Communion in the presence of Lord Roberts and Prince Francis of Teck
. He was interred in the Pretoria
cemetery on 1 November 1900. During his funeral, a Boer
woman commented: "They are burying their Prince in British soil; the English intend to remain in this land". His grave is marked with a granite
cross and a cast iron railing.
In 1897 he planted a cedar in Winchester "in commemoration of the 60th year of the reign of her majesty Queen Victoria".
shire, Somerset
and Gloucestershire
Regiment who lost their lives in the Boer War
. The Monument is located on Plymouth Hoe
in Plymouth
Outside the entrance of the Royal Citadel.
It was a gift to the City from Alfred Mosely who was a merchant in South Africa
but chose Plymouth as the location for the memorial because of family ties with Devon
. He had been responsible for setting up a field hospital at Natal
during the campaign and it was there that Prince Christian Victor had died of injuries sustained during the War.
There is also a statue of the Prince outside Windsor castle (Berkshire, England) erected by his friends. The accompanying plaque displays a list of his campaign and war medals.
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
KStJ
Venerable Order of Saint John
The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , is a royal order of chivalry established in 1831 and found today throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United States of America, with the world-wide mission "to prevent and relieve sickness and...
(Christian Victor Albert Ludwig Ernst Anton; 14 April 1867 – 29 October 1900) was a member of the British Royal Family
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
. He was the eldest son of Princess Helena
Princess Helena of the United Kingdom
Princess Helena was a member of the British Royal Family, the third daughter and fifth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert....
, third daughter of Queen Victoria.
Early life
Prince Christian was born on 14 April 1867, at Windsor CastleWindsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
. His father was Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein
Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein
Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein was a minor German prince who became a member of the British Royal Family through his marriage to Princess Helena of the United Kingdom , the fifth child and third daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of...
, the third son of Christian, Duke of Augustenborg
Christian, Duke of Augustenborg
Christian August II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg , usually simply known by just his first name, Christian, Duke of Augustenborg, was a claimant of the rulership of the provinces of Slesvig and Holstein, and a fiefholder of Augustenborg and Sønderborg...
and Countess Louise of Danneskjold-Samsøe. His mother was The Princess Helena
Princess Helena of the United Kingdom
Princess Helena was a member of the British Royal Family, the third daughter and fifth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert....
, the fifth child and third daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. His parents resided in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, at Cumberland Lodge
Cumberland Lodge
Cumberland Lodge is a 17th century country house in Windsor Great Park located 3.5 miles south of Windsor Castle. It is now occupied by a charitable foundation which holds residential conferences, lectures and discussions concerning the burning issues facing society. The primary beneficiaries of...
, and the Prince was considered a member of the British Royal Family. Under letters patent
Letters patent
Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
of 1866, he was styled His Highness Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein.
Education
The Prince, who was educated at Wellington CollegeWellington College, Berkshire
-Former pupils:Notable former pupils include historian P. J. Marshall, architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, impressionist Rory Bremner, Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge, author Sebastian Faulks, language school pioneer John Haycraft, political journalist Robin Oakley, actor Sir Christopher...
, Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...
, was commissioned in the 60th King's Royal Rifles in 1888 and served later in the 4th King's Royal Rifle Corps
King's Royal Rifle Corps
The King's Royal Rifle Corps was a British Army infantry regiment, originally raised in colonial North America as the Royal Americans, and recruited from American colonists. Later ranked as the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire...
. He served at Hazara 1891, Mirzanai 1891, Ashanti 1895 and Nile 1898.
"Christle", as the Prince was known in the family, was the first member of the Royal Family
Royal family
A royal family is the extended family of a king or queen regnant. The term imperial family appropriately describes the extended family of an emperor or empress, while the terms "ducal family", "grand ducal family" or "princely family" are more appropriate to describe the relatives of a reigning...
to attend school instead of being educated by a tutor at home. That he studied at Wellington College made Queen Victoria very happy, as Prince Albert had helped to establish the institution many years before. At Wellington
Wellington College, Berkshire
-Former pupils:Notable former pupils include historian P. J. Marshall, architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, impressionist Rory Bremner, Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge, author Sebastian Faulks, language school pioneer John Haycraft, political journalist Robin Oakley, actor Sir Christopher...
he played for the college First Eleven in 1883 and was captain of the cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
team in 1885. He was also captain of the cricket team while at Magdalen College and at Sandhurst, and made a single first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
appearance, for I Zingari
I Zingari
I Zingari are English and Australian amateur cricket clubs.-History:...
against Gentlemen of England in 1887, scoring 35 and 0. He remains the only member of the British royal family to play cricket at such a high level.
Military career
"Christle" became a British ArmyBritish Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
officer in the 60th King's Royal Rifles in 1888. He fought under Lord Kitchener in 1898 when the British troops defeated the Dervishes at Omdurman
Omdurman
Omdurman is the second largest city in Sudan and Khartoum State, lying on the western banks of the River Nile, opposite the capital, Khartoum. Omdurman has a population of 2,395,159 and is the national centre of commerce...
near Khartoum
Khartoum
Khartoum is the capital and largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...
and recovered the Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
. He participated also in the Ashanti Expedition to Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
. In 1900 he served in the Boer War
Boer War
The Boer Wars were two wars fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Oranje Vrijstaat and the Republiek van Transvaal ....
under Lord Roberts
Lord Roberts
Lord Roberts may refer to:*John Roberts, 2nd Baron Roberts , was an English politician and soldier during the English Civil War English and English Restoration...
.
Later life
In October of that year, while in PretoriaPretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
, he came down with malaria, and died of enteric fever, on 29 October, aged 33, after receiving the Holy Communion in the presence of Lord Roberts and Prince Francis of Teck
Prince Francis of Teck
Prince Francis of Teck, GCVO, DSO , was a member of the British Royal Family, the brother of Queen Mary....
. He was interred in the Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
cemetery on 1 November 1900. During his funeral, a Boer
Boer
Boer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
woman commented: "They are burying their Prince in British soil; the English intend to remain in this land". His grave is marked with a granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
cross and a cast iron railing.
Trivia
Prince Christian Victor was the favourite grandson of Queen Victoria.In 1897 he planted a cedar in Winchester "in commemoration of the 60th year of the reign of her majesty Queen Victoria".
Legacy
Prince Christian Victor has a dedicated monument (who served with distinction under General Sir Redvers Buller) It also serves as a monument to the fallen officers, NCO's and Soldiers of the DevonDevon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
shire, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
and Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
Regiment who lost their lives in the Boer War
Boer War
The Boer Wars were two wars fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Oranje Vrijstaat and the Republiek van Transvaal ....
. The Monument is located on Plymouth Hoe
Plymouth Hoe
Plymouth Hoe, referred to locally as the Hoe, is a large south facing open public space in the English coastal city of Plymouth. The Hoe is adjacent to and above the low limestone cliffs that form the seafront and it commands views of Plymouth Sound, Drake's Island, and across the Hamoaze to Mount...
in Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
Outside the entrance of the Royal Citadel.
It was a gift to the City from Alfred Mosely who was a merchant in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
but chose Plymouth as the location for the memorial because of family ties with Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
. He had been responsible for setting up a field hospital at Natal
Colony of Natal
The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on May 4, 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa, as one of its...
during the campaign and it was there that Prince Christian Victor had died of injuries sustained during the War.
There is also a statue of the Prince outside Windsor castle (Berkshire, England) erected by his friends. The accompanying plaque displays a list of his campaign and war medals.
Honours
- GCB: Knight Grand Cross of the BathOrder of the BathThe Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
- GCVO: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian OrderRoyal Victorian OrderThe Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
- Distinguished Service OrderDistinguished Service OrderThe Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
- Diamond Jubilee Medal
- Indian Service Medal
- Ashanti Star 1896
- Queens Sudan Medal
- Queens South Africa Medal
- Order of the Red EagleOrder of the Red EagleThe Order of the Red Eagle was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was awarded to both military personnel and civilians, to recognize valor in combat, excellence in military leadership, long and faithful service to the kingdom, or other achievements...
(Prussia) - Saxe Ernestine House Order
- Order of Osmanieh (Turkey)
- Khedive's Sudan Medal
- Order of St John of Jerusalem and Star
- K.J. St. J.Badge