Social Victorians/1887 American Exhibition/Private Entertainment for the Prince of Wales

Logistics

• 5 May 1887

Related Events

• The American Exhibition, which opened on 6 May 1887

The Event Itself

Wild West" Rehearsal for the Prince of Wales and Other Royals, 5 May 1887

Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales, "accepted an invitation to a rehearsal of the Wild West on May 5" (Kasson 79).

According to Kasson,

<quote>Like a true sportsman, the Prince of Wales asked to see the stables after the show, commented on Cody's old horse, Charlie, and offered cigarettes to the Indian leader named Red Shirt. ... Annie Oakley, upon being presented, pointedly shook hands with both him and Princess Beatrice, a breach of etiquette she attributed later to her American values and her sympathy for the wife of the unfaithful prince.</quote> (79)

Gower describes it briefly

<quote>A few days after [the Gladstones' visit on the 28th], Buffalo Bill gave a rehearsal of his performance of the "Wild West," before quite a parterre of royalties — among whom was the Comtesse de Paris.</quote> (55)

Cody's description of this "Private Entertainment for the Prince of Wales"

Princes Louise and the Marquis of Lorne had been in Canada in the 1870s, as Victoria had appointed him Regent, and there they had met a number of Americans.

<quote>The entertainment was of course to be an exclusive one, confined entirely to the royal party, as it yet wanted several days to an opening date. I had got the royal box handsomely rigged out with American and English flags, and my object was to make use of the occasion as a further rehearsal of the whole entertainment. The party that was conducted into our precincts was a strong one numerically as well as in point of exalted rank: The Prince and Princess of Wales, with their three daughters, Princesses Louise, Victoria and Maud, led the way; then came the Princess Louise and her husband, the Marquis of Lorne; the Duke of Cambridge; H. S. H. of Teck and his son; the Comtesse de Paris; the Crown Prince of Denmark; followed by Lady Suffield and Miss Knollys, Lady Cole, Colonel Clarke, Lord Edward Somerset and other high placed attendants on the assembled royalties. The Prince of Wales introduced me to the Princess, and introductions to the other exalted personages followed, in which Nate Salsbury and Major John Burke were included. ... My knowledge of the state of the arena and the nervous feeling inseparable from a first performance made me anything but comfortable as I conducted my guests in their boxes, and left them in charge of Major Burke and Mr. Frank Richmond, who had the task of explaining the various acts in the performance. However, we were in for it and were bound to pull through, and my fears of a mishap were dispelled from the moment the Prince gave the signal, and the Indians, yelling like fiends, galloped out from their ambuscade and swept round the enclosure like a whirlwind. The effect was instantaneous and electric. The Prince rose from his seat and leaned eagerly over the front of the box, and the whole party seemed thrilled at the spectacle. "Cody," I said to myself, "you have fetched em!" From that moment we were right — right from the word "Go." Everybody was in capital form — myself included — and the whole thing went off grandly. Our lady shots, on being presented at the finish, committed the small solecism of offering to shake hands with the Princess; for be it known that feminine royalty offers the hand back uppermost, which the person presented is expected to reverently lift with the finger tips and to salute with the lips. However, the Princess got over the difficulty by taking their proffered hands and shaking them heartily.</quote> (726–728)

Finally, Cody says

<quote>And so at seven o'clock our royal visit and our first full performance in England terminated by the prince presenting the contents of his cigarette case to Red Shirt.</quote> (730)

Moses describes it in this way

<quote>On May 5, four days before the grand opening, the Prince of Wales visited the grounds. His party included Princess Alexandra and their three daughters, Louise, Victoria, and Maude; Princess Alexandra's brother, Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark; the Comtesse de Paris; the Marquis of Lorne, and other nobles and their attendants.23 [Russell, Lives and Legends of Buffalo Bill, 329; and Rosa and May, Buffalo Bill and His Wild West, 108-9." (Moses 293 n. 23)] The special performance was a smashing success. The royal party became excited from the moment the Indians, "yelling like fiends, galloped out from their ambuscade and swept around the enclosure like a whirlwind." The effect, according to Cody, was "instantaneous and electric. The prince rose from his seat and leaned eagerly over the front of the box, and the whole party seemed thrilled by the spectacle."24 [Cody, Story of the Wild West, 728. (Moses 293 n. 24)] Afterward, the royal party toured the encampment.

Princess Alexandra welcomed Red Shirt and the Indians to England. Ogilasa, through his interpreter, replied with characteristic courtesy. "Tell the great chief's wife," he said, "that it gladdens my heart to hear words of welcome." Impressed, the prince gave Red Shirt, somewhat condescendingly, the contents of his cigar case. Had the prince offered Ogilasa a cigar, then it would have been equals sharing the pleasure of a good Havanna. Otherwise, it was a little like giving candy to a child. All that was missing from the scene was for the prince to have patted Red Shirt on the head. The Sioux leader immediately distributed the cigars to his followers in a traditional display of Lakota generosity and good manners. He said to the prince, placing his hand on his breast, that it "made his heart glad that one so high above other men should visit him. Though his skin was red and the pale-faced chief's was white, their hearts were one."25</quote> (["Newspaper clipping: London Morning Post, May 5, 1887, Baker Scrapbook, 1887, Cody Collection, DPL." (Moses 293 n. 25)] Moses 50)

Holbrook puts it like this

<quote>And presently, on a wonderful day that Major Burke never permitted the world to forget, the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII), his princess and their three daughters, together with other assorted royalty, came for a special performance. By heroic measures Burke managed to keep Buffalo Bill, one of our really great topers, sufficiently sober to appear on his white horse and break a few glass balls with his rifle. The yelling Indians, the careening Deadwood coach, the bandits, all proved exciting to these princelings, whom Burke insisted on calling "crowned heads," but it was Little Sure Shot they had come to see.</quote> (Holbrook 71 Col. B – 71 Col. A)

From the perspective of Seward, the law firm representing the Exhibition in the U.S., Cody was difficult and "temperamental"

<quote>William Ewart Gladstone attended an early performance of the Wild West Show when it opened in London,4 [fn 4 “Sun. Apr. 29, 1887, NCB-III, p. 216.”] and the Prince of Wales also went to see it, despite his defection as an Exhibition sponsor. The story is that when he told Buffalo [ 420/421 ] Bill that he expected to bring his mother, Queen Victoria, a few nights later, Buffalo Bill replied, "prince, give my regards to your mother and tell her I've heard of her."1</quote> ([fn 1 “Herald Tribune, Feb. 24, 1946 (30:3).”] Swaine 419, 420-421)

Who Was Present

By title, for lack of a better way to organize this.

• Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales
• Alexandra, the Princess of Wales
• Beatrice, Princess Beatrice
• Major John Burke
• Cambridge, the Duke of Cambridge
• Colonel Clarke
• Lady Cole
• Frederick, Crown Prince of Denmark
• Miss Knollys
• Louise, Princess Louise, and the Marquis of Lorne
• Maud, Princess Maud
• Annie Oakley
• the Comtesse de Paris
• Red Shirt
• Frank Richmond
• Nate Salsbury
• Lillian Smith
• Lord Edward Somerset
• Lady Suffield
• H. S. H. of Teck and his son
• Victoria, Princess Victoria
• "other high placed attendants on the assembled royalties" (Cody 726)

Questions and Notes

1. Had Princess Louise and Lorne met Cody when they were in Canada?

Bibliography

• Cody. Story of the Wild West.
• Gower
• Holbrook
• Kasson
• Moses
• Swaine