Marquess of Queensberry, 94, whose great-grandfather codified boxing uses judo throw to fight off mugger who tried to steal his wallet on streets of Lawless London
- David Douglas, 94, managed to topple his younger 6ft attack using a leg sweep
The Marquess of Queensberry, whose great-grandfather codified boxing, has revealed the moment he used a judo throw to fight off a mugger.
David Douglas, 94, came under attack outside his west London home near Kensington, with the thief trying to steal the pensioner's wallet.
Standing at just 5ft 4ins, David Queensberry - as he calls himself - appeared to be an easy target for the yob, who stood at more than 6ft and was far younger.
But what his assailant didn't know was that Queensberry - a retired ceramics professor - served in the Royal Horse Guards and is a trained practitioner of judo.
And it was his skill in the Japanese martial art which came to his rescue - not the pugilistic prowess of his relative the 9th marquess, who codified the rules of boxing.
The Marquess of Queensberry David Douglas, 94, came under attack outside his west London home near Kensington, with the thief trying to steal the pensioner's wallet
British aristocratic David Douglas, 12th Marquess of Queensberry, is pictured practising judo with his instructor in 1965
'He was trying to rob me. He was all over me with his hands,' the hip-throwing nonagenarian told The Times.
'I did manage to throw him - a type of judo throw - which sent him backwards.'
Lord Queensberry said his attacker 'stumbled' after he performed a type of leg sweep, commonly used in judo, called an 'Osoto-gari'.
The move, known as a major or large outer reap, sees judo practitioners - or judokas - using one of their legs to sweep the leg of an opponent, while using their arms to pull the upper body backwards, breaking the person's balance.
The peer - who holds a brown belt in the sport, which is one below black - declined to go into further detail about the attack.
However, a press cutting from 1965 revealed how he was trained in judo by Percy Sekine, who managed the British judo team and also taught racing legend Stirling Moss.
The marquess, who had left the army by that point to become a ceramics professor at Kensington's Royal College of Art, trained several days a week at Sekine's dojo in Hammersmith.
Lord Queensberry's relative, John Douglas, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry, is best known for lending his name to the 'Queensberry Rules' that form the basis of modern boxing.
But the nobleman is also famed for his role in the downfall of famed playwright and actor, Oscar Wilde in the late 19th century.
The marquess, a former ceramics professor at Kensington's Royal College of Art, trained in judo several days a week at a dojo in Hammersmith
In 1895, the writer and wit Oscar Wilde (left) was jailed for gross indecency after a legal battle with the 9th marquess, whose son Lord Alfred Douglas (right), nicknamed 'Bosie', was Wilde's lover
Wilde was jailed for gross indecency in 1895 after a legal battle with the 9th marquess, whose son Lord Alfred Douglas, nicknamed 'Bosie', was Wilde's lover.
The case went to court after Wilde unsuccessfully sued the marquess for writing that he was a 'sodomite'.
Lord Queensberry, who described himself in a 1989 article in The Times as 'unconventional', had eight children by four women.
Ambrose Carey is Lord Queensberry's illegitimate first son. Ambrose's half sister, Carrie married Salem Bin Laden, a brother of terrorist Osama, who died in a plane crash in 1983. She later married his brother, Khaled.
In 1995, Lord Queensberry's daughter Lady Alice Douglas, married Simon Melia, an armed robber she met while holding a drama workshop at a prison. They divorced after he cheated on her.
In 2009, tragedy struck the family, when the peer's son Milo Douglas killed himself at the age of 34.
Nine years later in 2018, another of Lord Queensberry's children, daughter Lady Beth Shan Ling - known to her family as Ling Ling - died aged 18 after taking heroin and cocaine.
Lady Beth Shan Ling, 18, died after injecting heroin during a house party in Notting Hill in 2018
The teenager was found with needle marks in her arms following a house party at a £2.5million flat in Notting Hill, west London.
Lady Beth's death was the latest tragedy to befall a colourful aristocratic dynasty which has endured centuries of misfortune once labelled the 'Queensberry Curse'.
The 'Curse of the Queensberrys' dates back to the Scotland of the Dark Ages when Sir William Douglas died in the Tower of London in 1298 after fighting for William Wallace against the English.
His son, Sir James Douglas, a confidant of Robert the Bruce, died in 1330 taking his dead leader's heart on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
The family were created earls in 1358. The 2nd earl died at the Battle of Otterburn in 1388, and the 4th earl was killed four years later in the Battle of Homildon Hill. The title was elevated to marquess by Charles II in 1681.
In 1858 the 8th marquess shot himself dead with his own gun while hunting rabbits. Two of his sons also died violent deaths.
A family with tragedies dating back to the dark ages
The 'Curse of the Queensberrys' dates back to the Scotland of the Dark Ages when Sir William Douglas died in the Tower of London in 1298 after fighting for William Wallace against the English.
His son, Sir James Douglas, a confidant of Robert the Bruce, died in 1330 taking his dead leader's heart on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
The family were created earls in 1358. The 2nd earl died at the Battle of Otterburn in 1388, and the 4th earl was killed four years later in the Battle of Homildon Hill. The title was elevated to marquess by Charles II in 1681.
In 1858 the 8th marquess shot himself dead with his own gun while hunting rabbits. Two of his sons also died violent deaths.
In 1895, the writer and wit Oscar Wilde was jailed for gross indecency after a legal battle with the 9th marquess, whose son Lord Alfred Douglas, nicknamed 'Bosie', was Wilde's lover. The case went to court after Wilde unsuccessfully sued the marquess for writing that he was a 'sodomite'.
The current, 12th marquess, David Harrington Angus Douglas, has married three times, producing eight children by four women. Caroline Carey, half-sister of his illegitimate son Ambrose Carey, married Salem Bin Laden, a brother of terrorist Osama. When he died in a plane crash she married another brother, Khaled.
Lady Alice Douglas married Simon Melia, who was serving a prison term for his part in an armed robbery
In 1995, Lady Beth Douglas's half-sister, Lady Alice Douglas, married Simon Melia, an armed robber she met while holding a drama workshop at a prison. They divorced after he cheated on her. In 2009, Beth's half-brother, Milo Douglas, 34, committed suicide by jumping off a tower block.
