A Prince at Scarborough

 posted by John Winn

I mentioned in last week's post that in its early days the Scarborough Festival welcomed I Zingari, the oldest and perhaps most exclusive of wandering clubs. Founded in 1845 it is known for its aristocratic membership and its colours of black, red and gold. The eleven who played Gentlemen of England at North Marine Road in 1887 were typical of the social class make up of the club. Two 'Hons', Lyttelton and Hawke, Captain Friend and the Paravicini brothers, Percy and Harry, sons of Baron JP de Paravicini, took the field on Monday August 29th but pride of place must go to Prince Christian Victor, grandson of Queen Victoria. 

Wisden record that the match, the opening fixture of the festival, was spoilt by the 'deplorable weakness of the Zingari bowling'. On the first day The Gentlemen, centuries for Mr Thornton, Mr Stoddart and 73 for Mr WG Grace, rattled up 381 in under four hours. I Zingari did not go down without a fight, replying with 264 and 308 in a drawn match, top scorer Mr Webbe with 76 and 126. Queen Victoria would have been reasonably happy with her grandson's 35 in the first innings but not the nought for which he was bowled in the second knock. 

Wisden affords Prince Christian only six lines of obituary. Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein, try getting that on your scorecard, was born in 1867 at Windsor Castle. He was educated at Wellington College, Oxford and Sandhurst and served in the King's Royal Rifle Corps from 1888 to 1900. At Wellington he captained the cricket team as he did at Magdalen College  and Sandhurst. Wisden rather damns him with faint praise saying that 'he would have very likely got into into the eleven at Oxford if a new wicketkeeper had been required'. Whist on military service he scored lots of runs including 205 v the Devonshire Regiment at Rawul Pindee in 1893.

Elevated to the rank of major he served in the Sudan and then took part in the relief of Ladysmith in the second Boer War. Whilst in South Africa he caught malaria and died of enteric fever* in 1900 in Pretoria where there is a fine grave. He is commemorated in a number of places in this country including a statue outside Windsor Castle. 

The match at Scarborough was his only first class game but no other member of the royal family has played at this level.