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generally managed to fit in a game or two. In Jamaica, for example, in 1966, where he was opening the Commonwealth Games, Prince Philip took a medium-goal Windsor Park team, soon to be joined by Prince Charles returning from school in Australia. In 1970, the all- English Windsor Park high-goal team, with whom he had won the Gold Cup six months earlier, were invited to play in Mexico. An arthritic right
wrist enforced his retirement from polo in 1971, at the age of 50. So, with equal enthusiasm, he took up carriage driving, rewriting the International Rules and encouraging Eastern Bloc countries to send teams to compete outside their Communist confines. Polo’s loss proved to be driving’s gain. In that same year, he founded the Windsor Park Equestrian Club on Smith’s Lawn, embracing show jumping, dressage and driving, and inaugurating classes in these disciplines at all levels, from those for beginners to those for super stars. Thus, on a summer weekend, there may be as many as 400 horses competing in the Equestrian Club, and perhaps 300 in the polo, so totalling 700 on each day on Smith’s Lawn. These figures do not include those just hacking around 4,500 acres of the beautiful Great Park, which as Chief
Prince Philip takes a tumble while playing bicycle polo. Credit: Getty Images
Ranger, Prince Philip opened up for any rider who wished to apply for a licence – at present there are about 450 benefiting in this way. Republican elements of the media delight in portraying Prince Philip
as the “Master of the Gaffe”. Yet when examined it becomes clear that these so-called gaffes were either taken entirely out of context or said in jest to complete strangers, of whom he must meet scores almost every day, in an effort to break the ice and put them at their ease. In even the more serious ones, which admittedly might have been better left unsaid, his incisive mind has generally hit the nail bang on the head, although it might have been more politically correct to have kept his thoughts to himself. Today, Prince Philip is
Prince Philip after winning the Gold Cup at Cowdray Park
now Patron or President of nearly 800 organisations, many of them born of his own initiatives. Perhaps the most successful has been the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme, created in 1956 to bring outdoor activity and adventure into the lives
of British youngsters. From here it has spread to 124 other countries, involving over six million participants. In addition, he has written 10 books, in subjects as diverse as science, wildlife, religion, philosophy and carriage driving. Even today, he fits more into every 24 hours than most people half his age could possibly manage in a week. Que hombre!
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GUARDS POLO CLUB OFFICIAL YEARBOOK 2011
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