Prince Philip talks polo gameplay with his eldest son. Credit: Getty Images
Following Cheam, and a brief spell at Salem in Germany, his
education continued at Gordonstoun in Scotland, where he became Head Boy (or Guardian as it was called). He also captained the cricket and hockey Xls and developed his love of sailing and the sea. In 1939, on a special entry, he moved for nine months to the Royal
Naval College, Dartmouth, at which he was awarded the King’s Dirk (the naval equivalent of Sandhurst’s Sword of Honour). It was whilst there that he reputedly first caught the eye of the then Princess Elizabeth who, with her sister Princess Margaret, had accompanied their father on an informal visit to the College. At the outbreak of War, Prince
Philip was commissioned first to HMS Ramilles in the Indian Ocean, and thence to the battleship HMS Valiant in the Mediterranean where, in the vital naval engagement at Cape Matapan, he was mentioned in dispatches. In 1945 and 1946 he was again serving in Far Eastern waters, prior to returning to the Mediterranean Fleet based in Malta. There, under the tutelage of his uncle, Admiral Lord Mountbatten, himself a pre-war five-goal player, he first took up polo. Following his marriage to Princess Elizabeth in 1947, his naval career
Thereafter, now based at Buckingham Palace, he needed an active
sport in which to participate. Having first tried cricket, he turned to polo, riding three ponies lent by Lord Cowdray, stabled at Cowdray House, under the expert care of stud-groom William Woodcott and a young girl by the name of Pam Donanghue. The latter ran Prince Philip’s own stable right up to his retirement. She then continued with Prince Charles, to whom the string had been handed over. Initially, Prince Philip formed the team named ‘The Mariners’, so
When both teams were invited into the Royal
Box, Prince Philip jokingly enquired of Harriot, in the presence of Her Majesty, “Juan Carlos, what does that word ‘carajo’, which I overheard you muttering several times, actually mean in English?” Almost without hesitation, Harriot replied “Oh, it means well played, Sir”!
continued in Malta, with promotion in 1950 to command the frigate HMS Magpie. The untimely death of his father-in-law, King George VI, in 1952, sadly brought an end to his naval career, which had shown such promise, and there can be little doubt that he would have risen on pure merit to its very summit.
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called because it consisted of two erstwhile naval colleagues, Robert de Pass and Matt Maunder, and the ex-Royal Marine General Robert Neville. In the event, Robert Neville had to drop out through injury and was replaced by former Chindit and Ghurkha Colonel Alec Harper. The name survived though, as did the distinctive square-necked naval rating’s shirts – white with dark blue edging. Being committed to this team,
Prince Philip did not play at Windsor in 1955, apart from competing in the first Royal Windsor Cup and captaining The Welsh Guards in a challenge match versus The Royal Horse Guards. The
following year, 1956, he formed his own Windsor Park team based on pre-war international Humphrey Guinness (mounted as ever by Archie David), whose colours – dark green with red piping – were similar to the cassocks worn by the choristers of the Chapel in Royal Lodge. His colleagues in The Mariners continued (now calling themselves The Ancient Mariners!). Both teams quickly achieved success, with
GUARDS POLO CLUB OFFICIAL YEARBOOK 2011
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