| Issue: | |
| Full Name: | Frederick Christian Charles Augustus |
| House: | Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg |
| Father: | Christian August II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg |
| Mother: | Countess Louise Sophie Danneskiold-Samsøe |
| Birth Date: | 22 January 1831 |
| Birth Place: | Augustenborg, Denmark |
| Death Place: | Pall Mall, London |
| Burial Date: | 1 November 1917 |
| Burial Place: | Royal Vault, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle 23 October 1928 Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore |
| Signature: | Prince Christian's signature.svg |
Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (Frederick Christian Charles Augustus; 22 January 1831 - 28 October 1917) was a 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 Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
Prince Christian was born in Augustenburg Palace, as the second son of Christian August II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg and his wife, Countess Louise Sophie of Danneskiold-Samsøe.
In 1848, young Christian's father, Duke Christian August, placed himself at the head of a movement to resist by force the claims of Denmark upon the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, two personal possessions of the kings of Denmark, of which Holstein also was a part of the German Confederation. A year earlier, King Frederick VII acceded to the Danish throne without any hope of producing a male heir. Unlike Denmark proper, where the Lex Regia of 1665 allowed the throne to pass through the female royal line, in Holstein Salic Law prevailed. The duchy would most likely revert to the line of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, the cadet branch of the House of Holstein-Sonderburg. During the 1852 First War of Schleswig, Prince Christian briefly served with the newly constituted Schleswig-Holstein army, before he and his family were forced to flee the advancing Danish forces (see history of Schleswig-Holstein). After the war, he attended the University of Bonn, where he befriended Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia (later the German Emperor Frederick III).
In September 1865, while visiting Coburg, The Princess Helena met Prince Christian. The couple became engaged in December of that year. Queen Victoria gave her permission for the marriage with the provision that the couple live in Great Britain. They married at the Private Chapel at Windsor Castle on 5 July 1866. Seven days before the wedding, on 29 June 1866, the Queen granted her future son-in-law the style of Royal Highness by Royal Warrant.[1]
In 1891, Prince Christian lost an eye when he was accidentally shot in the face by his brother-in-law, the Duke of Connaught, during a shooting party at Sandringham.[2]
Prince and Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, as they were known, made their home at Frogmore House in the grounds of Windsor Castle and later at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park. They had six children, known commonly as:[3]
Prince Christian was given the rank of major general in the British Army in July 1866 and received promotions to the ranks of lieutenant general in August 1874 and general in October 1877. From 1869 until his death, he was honorary colonel of the 1st Volunteer Battalion, The Royal Berkshire Regiment. However, he never held a major field command or staff position. He was High Steward of Windsor and Ranger of Windsor Great Park, and was awarded a Doctor of Civil Law degree by the University of Oxford.
He received the freedom of the city of Carlisle on 7 July 1902, during a visit to the city for the Royal Agricultural Society's Show.[4] As a "Minor Royal", he officiated at many public functions. These included participation, with the Princess Helena, in the speech day of Malvern College in 1870.[5]
The illustration here and shows a civic ball held in the Exchange Buildings (1864–67; demolished 1939) in Liverpool to honour the visiting Prince Arthur, and Prince and Princess Christian.[6]
Prince Christian has the following written description:[7]
Prince Christian died at Schomberg House (half of which is now part of the Oxford and Cambridge Club[8]), Pall Mall, London, in October 1917, in his eighty-sixth year.[9] After being initially interred in the Royal Vault at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, he was buried in the Royal Burial Ground, Frogmore in Windsor Great Park.[10]