site next to the miniature range, on the cavalry training ground, by the gate closest to the town. Col Smiley described that as “…a quite useless bit of ground … too small, on a slope, and with a very uneven surface … as I told the Queen …”

She replied that, as the European Three-Day Event was being staged on Smith’s Lawn in the spring of 1954 (under the direction of Colonel Henry Abel Smith, who had recently retired from The Blues), the ground could be used for polo “as soon as the event was completed”. Eric Savill, whose renowned gardens are adjacent to the site, was less pleased although, in due course, he was to become a good ally of the Household Brigade Polo Club. Col Smiley’s second-in-command was Major the Marquess Douro, who took command of the regiment early in 1955. He also spoke with Prince Philip about the use of Smith’s Lawn. He recalls that “… over the winter of 1954-55, with the splendid cooperation of Eric Savill, we marked out and harrowed what became Numbers One and Two Grounds [subsequently the Queen’s and Duke’s]. In the spring we cut and rolled; and, by June, we were ready for the opening tournament, the 12-goal Royal Windsor Cup. “Although we had assistance from the Hurlingham Polo Association it was quite an ambitious start,” he added. “More than a dozen teams entered, and those beaten in the early rounds competed for a subsidiary prize [The Smith’s Lawn Cup, which was to be renamed the Mountbatten Cup]. The idea had been to play in the evenings after racing at Royal Ascot, but the racing didn’t take place as there was a national rail strike.

This

rather helped us as a lot of people were already down there in house parties, and they were left with not

too much to do, so they came along and watched the polo, which meant that we got quite decent crowds …”

OFFICIAL YEARBOOK 2010 GUARDS POLO CLUB | 31

The officer to whom Lord Douro delegated the work of getting the grounds prepared and organising the first chukkas, was Lieutenant Lord Patrick Beresford, of The Blues, who had started playing at Sandhurst and was one of the players at Archie David’s Henley club. Lord Patrick went on to be the longest-serving member of the committee and, at the height of his playing career, played off a 5 handicap. Prince Philip, then Colonel of the Welsh Guards and a five-goal player, had, for several months, conceived the notion of a Household Brigade Polo Club – to be incorporated in the Household Brigade Saddle Club (whose committee was chaired by Brigadier Michael

Gordon Watson). Since Major David’s Henley club was now mostly military, Prince Philip suggested that it might suit him to move his whole Henley establishment to Smith’s Lawn, and to continue playing under the management of officers of the Household Cavalry and Foot Guards. Archie David readily agreed. Stabling a substantial string of ponies he was infinitely generous, not only in mounting particular young players but also in providing a pool of ponies for the new Club. Prince Philip allotted Archie David stabling at the Royal Mews, Windsor Castle, where the Club’s offices were also originally based too. Thus, in January 1955, the Household Brigade Polo Club was born, with Prince Philip as President (as he has since remained); Lord Douro as chairman; Major John Miller of the Welsh Guards (secretary of the Saddle Club), as hon secretary; and Lord Patrick Beresford as polo manager. Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188