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Opposite:
The Royal
Family at a Windsor Park
polo game, 1951.
This page,
below
: Lord Patrick
Beresford, Her Majesty
the Queen and Prince
Philip at Audi
International Polo at
Guards Polo Club, 2012.
Right
: Her Majesty the
Queen presenting Prince
Philip with a trophy, 1957
An arthritic right wrist forced his
retirement from polo in 1971, at the age
of 50. 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 the same year he founded the
Windsor Park Equestrian Club on Smith’s
lawn, embracing show jumping, dressage
and driving, and inaugurating classes at all
levels, from beginners to superstars. Thus,
on a summer weekend, there may be
on Smith’s lawn as many as 400 horses
competing in the Equestrian Club, and
perhaps 300 in the polo, to say nothing
of those just hacking around 4,500 acres
of the beautiful Great Park which, as Ranger,
he opened up for any rider who wished
to apply for a licence.
Prince Philip is 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 adventure into the
lives of British youngsters and now active
in more than 140 other countries, involving
more than six million participants. In
addition, he has written ten books, on
subjects as diverse as science, wildlife,
religion, philosophy and carriage driving.
Today, at the age of 96, Prince Philip
has certainly earned himself the right to
a peaceful retirement. If his track record
is anything to go by, however, resting on
his laurels seems unlikely.
N O O N E R O D E H A R D E R O R
MO R E C OMP E T I T I V E LY
T H A N P R I N C E P H I L I P
