In the Victorian era (1837-1901), Hong Kong was something of a backwater of the British Empire, in spite of being a gateway to China. It had very few distinguished visitors. Consequently, when a celebrity arrived in town, he or she was treated like royalty.

Many of these early celebrity visitors actually were royalty. Among them were Prince William of Hesse, King David Kalakaua of the Hawaiian Islands and Prince Henry of Prussia, the brother of the future Kaiser Wilhelm II. When these visitors arrived, there was fierce competition among leading citizens of the colony to be introduced to them.

Social rivalry frequently created problems. Fortunately, in the case of Queen Victoria's sailor son, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, Hong Kong citizens cannot be blamed for what went wrong. He was scheduled to arrive in the colony in 1868, but he was a year late. This was because he went to Australia first, where Herbert O'Farrell, an Irish terrorist, shot him in the back. Fortunately, the bullet hit the joint of his sturdy Royal Navy braces. This saved his life.

When, at last, Prince Alfred arrived in Hong Kong a year later he was greeted with great pomp and ceremony: "All the Men-of-War in the Harbour, British and Foreign were now wreathed in folds of a sulphurous canopy, as, in concert with the Shore Battery, they thundered forth together in the Royal Salute." The prince opened City Hall and laid the foundation stone for the choir of St John's Cathedral. As the conscientious captain of HMS Galatea he spent most of his time refitting his ship. To relax he enjoyed watching amateur theatricals, such as the splendid production of a comedy called Notting Hill. The China Mail reported how the heroine Lizzy comforted Policeman X "in a way which is supposed to be peculiarly agreeable to the frequenters of our streets." The hero was Private Tight-Leather. It all sounds a bit naughty.

Of course, Prince Alfred had to attend a few banquets in his honour and listen to interminable flattering speeches by distinguished local dignitaries, but his official schedule was pretty light when compared to that of Prince Charles a few years ago.

The United States community was able to compete in hospitality with the British when their former president General Ulysses S. Grant visited Hong Kong for three days in 1879.

They planned a glorious open-air party in the Botanical Gardens where they erected a fantastic Triumphal Arch in his honour. It was illuminated by gaslight, with a transparency of the general on one side and the flags of Great Britain and the United States on the other. The band of the 27th Regiment was on hand to play a selection of waltzes. There was to be a magnificent fireworks display.

On the morning of the party, which was a Saturday, the weather was windy and the organising committee panicked. The manager of the gas company assured the committee that they had nothing to worry about because the lights were protected by glass globes, but in spite of this they postponed the party to the following Monday. Circulars were printed informing the public of the change of date.

Unfortunately, nobody had bothered to check when General Grant was leaving the colony. The Zambesi, with the General aboard, steamed out of the harbour 12 hours before the great “Welcome to Hong Kong General Grant Party” began.

The China Mail was particularly scathing about the blunder: "General Grant will have to credit the Hong Kong community with an embryonic reception, while it contained the elements of heartiness and sincerity, was strangled at birth by a lack of organisation, and a plethora of mismanagement, which unfortunately are usual characteristics of semi-public efforts of this Colony."