Prince Christian Victor Albert Louis Ernst Anton of Schleswig-Holstein (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
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
.
Early life
Prince Christian was born on 14 April 1867, at
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history.
The original cast ...
. His father was
Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein
Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (Frederick Christian Charles Augustus; 22 January 1831 – 28 October 1917) was a minor Danish-born German prince who became a member of the British royal family through his marriage to Princess Helena ...
, the third son of
Christian, Duke of Augustenborg
Christian August II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (19 July 1798 – 11 March 1869, ''Christian Carl Frederik August''), commonly known as Christian, Duke of Augustenborg, was a German prince and statesman. During the 1850s an ...
, and
Countess Louise Sophie of Danneskiold-Samsøe
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
. His mother was
Princess Helena, the fifth child and third daughter of
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
and
Prince Albert. His parents resided in the United Kingdom, at
Cumberland Lodge
Cumberland Lodge is a 17th-century Grade II listed country house in Windsor Great Park 3.5 miles south of Windsor Castle. Since 1947 it has been occupied by the charitable foundation known as Cumberland Lodge, which holds residential conferences ...
, 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''.
He was baptised in the private chapel at Windsor Castle. His godparents were Queen Victoria (his maternal grandmother), the
Duke of Augustenburg
The House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg () was a branch of the dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg of the House of Oldenburg. The line descended from Alexander, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg. Like all of the secondary ...
(his paternal grandfather; represented by
Prince Arthur Prince Arthur may refer to:
* Arthur I, Duke of Brittany (1187-1203), nephew and possible heir of Richard I of England
* Arthur, Prince of Wales (1486–1502), eldest son Henry VII of England
* Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (1850 ...
), the
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
(his maternal uncle), the
Crown Princess of Prussia (his maternal aunt; represented by
Princess Louise), the
Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha), or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, links=no ), was an Ernestine, Thuringian duchy ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present- ...
(his maternal great-uncle; represented by the
Duke of Edinburgh), and the
Dowager Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (his maternal half-great-aunt; represented by
Lady Churchill
Clementine Ogilvy Spencer Churchill, Baroness Spencer-Churchill, (; 1 April 1885 – 12 December 1977) was the wife of Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and a life peer in her own right. While legally the daughter o ...
).
Education
The Prince, who was educated at
Lambrook
Lambrook is an independent preparatory school for 615 boys and girls, aged 3–13, set in of Berkshire countryside.
History
The school was founded in 1860 by Robert Burnside, in a large country house built in 1853 by William Budd. Burnside ini ...
,
Wellington College Wellington College may refer to:
*Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England
** Wellington College International Shanghai
** Wellington College International Tianjin
* Wellington College, Wellington, Ne ...
,
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...
, and the
Royal Military College, Sandhurst
The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...
, was commissioned into the King's Royal Rifle Corps (60th Rifles) in 1888, serving in the 4th Battalion
King's Royal Rifle Corps
The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...
.
"Christle", as the prince was known in the family, was the first member of the
Royal Family
A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...
to attend school instead of being educated by a tutor at home. That he studied at Wellington College made
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
very happy, as
Prince Albert had helped to establish the institution many years before. At
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
he played for the college First Eleven in 1883 and was captain of the
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
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
I Zingari (from dialectalized Italian , meaning "the Gypsies"; corresponding to standard Italian ') are English and Australian amateur cricket clubs, founded in 1845 and 1888 respectively. It is the oldest and perhaps the most famous of the ' ...
against Gentlemen of England in 1887. He remains the only member of the British royal family to play cricket at such a high level.
Military career
Upon leaving Sandhurst in 1888, the Prince became a
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
officer in the
King's Royal Rifle Corps
The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...
. Posted to India, he participated in the Hazara and Miranzi expeditions in 1891 and the Isazi expedition in 1892. Moving to West Africa, in 1895 he participated in the
Ashanti Expedition
The Anglo-Ashanti wars were a series of five conflicts that took place between 1824 and 1900 between the Ashanti Empire—in the Akan interior of the Gold Coast—and the British Empire and its African allies. Though the Ashanti emerged victorio ...
in the
Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
, now
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
.
Upon his return, he was elevated to the rank of Major and then served under
Lord Kitchener in 1898 when British and Egyptian troops defeated the
Dervishes
Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from fa, درویش, ''Darvīsh'') in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage i ...
at
Omdurman near
Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...
and recovered the
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
.
The following year he served as a staff officer in the
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...
, being involved in the
relief of Ladysmith
When the Second Boer War broke out on 11 October 1899, the Boers had a numeric superiority within Southern Africa. They quickly invaded the British territory and laid siege to Ladysmith, Kimberley and Mafeking. Britain meanwhile transported th ...
under General Sir
Redvers Buller
General Sir Redvers Henry Buller, (7 December 1839 – 2 June 1908) was a British Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forc ...
and later was with
Lord Roberts in Pretoria.
Cricket
The Prince was a keen amateur cricketer, and played a single
first-class match for
I Zingari
I Zingari (from dialectalized Italian , meaning "the Gypsies"; corresponding to standard Italian ') are English and Australian amateur cricket clubs, founded in 1845 and 1888 respectively. It is the oldest and perhaps the most famous of the ' ...
in 1897. He scored 35 and 0. In lesser cricket, he represented Wellington College and also founded his own eponymous cricket team.
Death
![Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig Holstein Church Street Cemetery in Pretoria 056](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Prince_Christian_Victor_of_Schleswig_Holstein_Church_Street_Cemetery_in_Pretoria_056.jpg)
In October 1900, while in
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...
, he came down with malaria, and died of
enteric fever
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...
, on 29 October, aged 33, after receiving
Holy Communion
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instituted ...
in the presence of Lord Roberts and
Prince Francis of Teck
Prince Francis of Teck, (Francis Joseph Leopold Frederick; 9 January 1870 – 22 October 1910) was the younger brother of the British queen Mary of Teck, wife of King George V.
Family
Francis Joseph Leopold Frederick, known as "Frank", was bo ...
. He was interred in the
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...
cemetery on 1 November 1900. His grave is marked with a
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
cross and a cast-iron railing.
Writing in
her journal, the Prince's grandmother
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
wrote of her grandson's death:
Legacy
![Christian Victor monument - Windsor](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Christian_Victor_monument_-_Windsor.jpg)
There is a monument to him in the Chapel of the Crucifixion at
Frogmore Mausoleum
Frogmore is an estate within the Home Park, adjoining Windsor Castle, in Berkshire, England. It comprises , of primarily private gardens managed by the Crown Estate. It is the location of Frogmore House, a royal retreat, and Frogmore Cottage. T ...
by
Emil Fuchs. It was originally placed in
St George's Chapel. Another monument dedicated to him also serves as a monument to the fallen officers, NCOs and Soldiers of the
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
shire,
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
and
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) 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.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
Regiments who lost their lives in the
Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...
. This monument is located on
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 ...
in
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
, outside the entrance to the
Royal Citadel.
There is also a statue of the Prince outside
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history.
The original cast ...
(Berkshire, England), erected by his friends. The accompanying plaque displays his orders and campaign medals.
Prince Christian's parents dedicated a window to him in the
Royal Chapel of All Saints
The Royal Chapel of All Saints or Queen Victoria's Chapel is a Grade II listed church in the grounds of the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, Berkshire, England and is a Royal Peculiar, serving as an informal parish church for the inhabitants and ...
in
Windsor Great Park
Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of , including a deer park, to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. It is adjacent to the private Home Park, which is nearer the castle. The park was, for many ...
in 1905.
T. Herbert Warren's biography of Prince Christian was published by
John Murray in 1903.
Honours
* :
** GCB:
Extra Knight Grand Cross of the Bath (civil division), ''19 July 1890''
** GCVO:
Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...
, ''8 December 1898''
** DSO:
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...
** KStJ:
Knight of Justice of St. John
**
Queen Victoria Golden Jubilee Medal
The Golden Jubilee Medal was instituted in 1887 by Royal Warrant as a British decoration to be awarded to participants of Queen Victoria's golden jubilee celebrations.
Issue
The medal was struck to celebrate Queen Victoria's golden jubilee, the ...
, with clasp for Diamond Jubilee
**
India General Service Medal (1854)
__NOTOC__
The India General Service Medal (1854 IGSM) was a campaign medal approved on 1 March 1854, for issue to officers and men of the British and Indian armies. It was awarded for various minor military campaigns in India and nearby countries, ...
**
Ashanti Star
The Ashanti Star was created in 1896 for the members of the expedition against the Ashanti King Prempeh, in the Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War
**
Queen's Sudan Medal
The Queen's Sudan Medal was authorised in March 1899 and awarded to British and Egyptian forces which took part in the Sudan campaign between June 1896 and September 1898.
The campaign reflected the British desire to reverse the defeats of the Ma ...
**
Queen's South Africa Medal
The Queen's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to British and Colonial military personnel, and to civilians employed in an official capacity, who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa. Altogether twenty-six clasps wer ...
*
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...
:
Knight of the Red Eagle, 1st Class, ''28 July 1891''; 3rd Class with Swords, ''22 December 1891''
*
Ernestine duchies
The Ernestine duchies (), also known as the Saxon duchies (, although the Albertine appanage duchies of Weissenfels, Merseburg and Zeitz were also "Saxon duchies" and adjacent to several Ernestine ones), were a group of small states whose num ...
:
Grand Cross of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order
* :
Grand Cross of the Ludwig Order, ''1 January 1890''
*
Duchy of Anhalt
The Duchy of Anhalt (german: Herzogtum Anhalt) was a historical German duchy. The duchy was located between the Harz Mountains in the west and the river Elbe and beyond to the Fläming Heath in the east. The territory was once ruled by the House ...
:
Grand Cross of Albert the Bear, ''1891''
* :
Order of Osmanieh
The Order of Osmanieh or Order of Osmaniye ( ota, نشانِ عثمانیہ) was a civil and military decoration of the Ottoman Empire.
History
The order was created in January 1862 by Sultan Abdülaziz. With the obsolescence of the Nişan-i ...
, 1st Class
*
Khedivate of Egypt
The Khedivate of Egypt ( or , ; ota, خدیویت مصر ') was an autonomous tributary state of the Ottoman Empire, established and ruled by the Muhammad Ali Dynasty following the defeat and expulsion of Napoleon Bonaparte's forces which br ...
:
Khedive's Sudan Medal
Ancestry
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christian Victor Of Schleswig-Holstein, Prince
House of Augustenburg
1867 births
1900 deaths
Military personnel from Berkshire
People from Windsor, Berkshire
People from Old Windsor
King's Royal Rifle Corps officers
British Army personnel of the Mahdist War
British military personnel of the Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War
British Army personnel of the Second Boer War
British military personnel killed in the Second Boer War
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Knights Hospitaller
Knights of Justice of the Order of St John
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst
People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire
Deaths from typhoid fever
Princes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg
Free Foresters cricketers
I Zingari cricketers
English cricketers