GALEN WES TON


TRIBUTE 29 OCTOBER 1940 – 12 APRIL 2021


WILLARD GORDON GALEN WESTON


GALEN WESTON, PATRON of the Maple Leafs polo team, was a life playing member of Guards Polo Club. He dominated the Club’s key tournaments in the 1980s and ‘90s as our Clubhouse tournament boards testify. His distinctive red shirts featuring a white Maple Leaf, reflecting his Canadian roots, won the following trophies over an 12-year period:


1981 Committee Cup 1982 Archie David Cup 1983 Caterham Cup 1989 Mountbatten Trophy 1990 Caterham Cup 1991 The Queen’s Cup Subsidiary Final


1993 The Queen’s Cup Subsidiary Final


1993 The Royal Windsor Cup 1993 The 15-goal Spring Tournament (later renamed The Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother’s Centenary Trophy


Galen also received the Silver Jubilee Cup from HM The Queen in 1993, which was played as part of the Cartier International


OC CVO OONT


Day matches. Playing for Canada, Galen was joined by Steve Dalton and David and Todd Offen. They defeated HRH’s team (HRH The Prince of Wales, Cody Forsyth, Andrew Hine, James Lucas) 7-5. This win might have been a bit awkward for Galen as His Royal Highness would often play for Maple Leafs! Other Maple Leaf regulars were Julian and Howard Hipwood, Memo Gracida and Tony Devcich. In addition to these successes at Smith’s


Lawn, Galen’s Maple Leafs were also victorious further afield. This included victory in the Gold Cup at Cowdray Park in 1985 and the high-goal Prince of Wales Trophy at the Royal County of Berkshire in 1993. Galen first played polo though in


Phoenix Park, Dublin, where he would turn out for his own Roundwood Park team. This team was equally


It is thanks to Galen Weston that we have polo fields at Coworth Park. He leased the Fort Belvedere estate... creating not only the polo fields but the stabling and village area


successful, registering victories in several tournaments such as the Warwickshire Cup, Jaipur Trophy, Horse & Hound Cup and the Rothmans Cup. The team took its name from Galen’s 17th century home south of Dublin. Although after a failed kidnap attempt by the Provisional IRA in 1983 – Galen was actually playing polo at Guards Polo Club at the time – the Westons left Ireland for good. It is thanks to Galen Weston that we


have polo fields at Coworth Park. He leased the Fort Belvedere estate, which included the house and grounds at Coworth, from the Crown Estate in the 1980s, creating not only the polo fields that we play on today, but also the stabling and village area for the grooms’ accommodation. Although Dorchester Collection took over the running of Coworth Park, converting it into a luxury, country house hotel in 2010, Galen and his wife Hilary, whom he married in 1966, remained at Fort Belvedere and continued to regularly attend polo events at Guards Polo Club. Away from polo, Galen headed up


his family’s extensive retail businesses, including Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason here in London. He was also heavily involved in the Weston Family Foundation in Canada, a charitable organisation which contributes towards education, land conservation and environmental projects in the north of the country. Galen Weston died in Canada last


month at the age of 80 after a long illness. We send our deepest condolences to Hilary and their children, Alannah, Chair of the Selfridges Group, and Galen Junior, Chair and Chief Executive of the family’s operations in Canada. ◆ Diana Butler


HM The Queen presents the Silver Jubilee Trophy to Galen Weston after he led Canada to victory on Cartier International Day 1993 at Guards Polo Club Image copyright: Mike Roberts


78 GUARDS POLO CLUB OFFICIAL YEARBOOK 2021


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