Polo, The Queen and Prince Philip and The Coronation Cup
Thank you to Iceflower for adding this - I was lucky enough to be at Guards Polo Club for the match yesterday, but too tired to post this when I came home last night.
By way of background information, the match was for The Coronation Cup and takes place each year at Guards Polo Club, Smith's Lawn, in Windsor Great Park. [as mentioned on my thread about the Queen’s London Season].
The history of British Polo really dates from the British Army Officiers, who in Victorian times brought the game back to the UK from India, when that country was under Crown rule. It was a game that was popular with the Navy as well. Important British Clubs grew up at Hurlingham in South West London, at Tidworth in Wiltshire, at Cirencester Park in Gloucestshire and Cowdray Park in West Sussex. After the war, the Polo Grounds at Hulingham were sold for Public Housing, although the governing body of British Polo is called The Hurlingham Association [HPA] to perpetuate the name.
For a long time there has been a very strong connection between British Polo and the Royal Family: Important exponents of the game in the past included Lord Mountbatten of Burma, who wrote the definitive book on the subject: 'Polo by Marco', (Marco being LM's pseudonym). Prince Philip himself was an excellent player, and often turned up at Cowdray Park to play. The Prince of Wales [who was a moderate to good player in his youth] and more recently Prince William and Harry have all played the game. Harry is probably the better player of the two - polo MUST always be played with the stick [only the uninitiated call it a 'mallet'!!] and William, as a left-hander, has an obvious disadvantage.
In 1955, the polo club we now know as Guards Polo Club was founded at the suggestion of Prince Philip, at Smiths Lawn in Windsor Great Park [obviously handy for Windsor Castle!] Originally, its core members were officers from the Household Division of the British Army - i.e. Guards Officers, although its membership became much more varied over the years -basically anyone who could afford to play the game (polo is very expensive at the top level, which is the one to be aspired to!
By the start of the 1980's The 'Top 3' Clubs were regarded as Guards', Cowdray Park and Cirencester. They were then joined in the mid 1980's by the 'Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club'. This latter club is less royal than it sounds - 'Royal' is part of the appellation of the county of Berkshire, not an accolade awarded to the club itself by the Queen.
The kindest way to put it is that the new Club was aimed at the 'flash wealthy and celebrity crowd’, and it has to be said that its 'brash moneyed image' was somewhat looked down upon by the other clubs - whose own polo grounds were very good but not in the least bit ‘flashy’ and whose membership included 'old-money' aristocrats and Officers etc. The ‘old guard’ began to refer to the new venture as ‘the New Club’. The confirmation that the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club was a little, er, vulgar, was provided when the ‘old guard’ gleefully reported that the owner had met the Queen whilst ‘chomping on the largest cigar you ever saw’ and that he had also failed to remove his hat on this royal occasion! Final confirmation that the new club was ‘vulgar beyond belief’ occurred The Major Ronald Ferguson was lured away [presumably for money] from The Guards' Polo Club, and ended up holding forth from a Director's chair on which was emblazoned the legend 'Fergie's Dad', which was felt to be somewhat beyond the pale. This view was firmly sealed when an increasingly unpopular Duchess of York began spending time there with the flash moneyed celebrity set!
The Duke of Edinburgh is President of Guards Polo Club. Over the years, the royal connection with the game has proved attractive to Sponsors: Polo is an expensive game, and the HPA, its governing body, needs to raise funds to try to put together scholarships so that promising young players [who will not always be from wealthy backgrounds – interestingly, a good player must primarily be a good athlete with good ball sense rather than a good horseman] can have the opportunity to play the game. Each year, therefore HPA holds ‘The International’ for ‘The Coronation Cup’ at Guards Polo Club, when England takes on a National Polo Team from abroad. Some years ago, Cartier began to sponsor the International, and, somewhat regrettably in my very humble opinion, the emphasis began to turn from Polo to the Celebrity crowd that Cartier used to invite to the match and entertain to lunch. The Queen almost always used to watch the International and then present the Coronation Cup, and further royal interest used to be provided by the second match of the day, when the England ‘B’ team used to play – the Prince of Wales, whilst never sufficiently good to make the main England team used to play for this second team.
Several years ago, the increasing Celebrity culture started to pervade to such an extent that the day, previously a day of the best polo in Britain, began to change tone. The Queen, previously present each year to present the Coronation Cup, began to attend less frequently. The London Nightclub China White even began to set up a tent at Smiths Lawn. Eventually, even Cartier began to worry about the monster it had created, and announced that this year 2011, was to be the last year that they would sponsor the match, as they now wished to be associated with the Guards’ Polo Club’s own tournament, The Queen’s Cup, which is almost always presented by the Queen.
It was therefore felt that the Queen would turn up at Guards Polo Club for this final time that Cartier would sponsor the match, and more particularly because it was the 100th Coronation Cup, but when I turned up yesterday, I discovered that the Duke of Edinburgh was on duty to do the honours. HRH watched the game from the Royal Box accompanied by the managing director of Cartier in the UK and Cartier's celebrity guests. At treading-in time [half time, when spectators take to the polo ground to flatten the divots kicked up by the ponies] a large crowd of people walked over to look up at the Royal box! I am pleased to report that England, captained by Luke Tomlinson, a close friend (and wedding guest) of Prince William, and also Prince Harry, defeated the Brazilian team by 8 goals to 6. I have to say, though, that Brazil were unlucky, as their captain had to retire injured from the game, which surely helped England’s chances! Prince Philip then left the royal box and came down onto the field to present the Coronation Cup to Luke Tomlinson. Before the International, The Prince of Wales’ Team played The Hurlingham Team in the morning for the Golden Jubilee Trophy; this match was less interesting to members of TRF, though, since despite the name of the match, there was no ‘royal’ playing in either team.
All-in-all, a good day, but I am afraid that I look back with greater pleasure to previous International Days, when the Queen used to turn up each year, and Prince Charles then used to take to the field immediately after the Coronation Cup had been presented, and play in the England ‘B’ team.
Alex
I remember the first time Sophie showed up for a formal evening at Cowes. I think that she wore a pink and black strapless dress with a big skirt, and a writer made mention of her wearing day shoes: a shiny black pump with a block heel. 
