Prince Charles teamed up with his sons, Princes William and Harry, for the first time ever on Sunday for a charity polo match at Cirencester Park, near his Gloucestershire home. And while they’ve played against each other before, the three joined forces as Team Highgrove, upsetting the home side four-and-a-half to four.
To the delight of the 200 gathered spectators, Prince William scored his team’s third goal, while team-mate and professional Duncan Forbes notched a hat trick. And though polo enthusiast Charles, decked in Highgrove red and blue, was clearly delighted to be on the field with his boys, he was less enamoured with his own play and at one point lost his temper, casting off his stick and calling for a replacement.
“They all performed well – the big crowd didn’t unnerve the boys and their father didn’t seem to make any allowances for the fact that they were his sons,” said one onlooker. “He takes his polo very seriously and his competitive streak has certainly rubbed off on the princes.”
The Sunday afternoon match raised £30,000 for three charities chosen by Charles: the Prince of Wales Hospice in Pontefract, the Bristol Cancer Care Centre and the British Wheelchair Sports Foundation.
And while Prince William and Prince Charles seemed to be in good spirits, both faced troublesome weekend stories. One report surfaced claiming that while on his gap year in Africa, Prince William accidentally shot a protected ibis out of the sky with a 12-bore double-barrelled shotgun. While the feathered friend is not considered an endangered species, neither is it listed as a game bird. The ibis is considered sacred and has exalted status in Kenya where the Turkana tribe believes it carries bodies up to heaven after people die. St James’s Palace has refused to comment on the story, but insiders say Prince William was crestfallen following the April shoot.
And Prince Charles came under fire from Earl Spencer on Friday for not visiting Princess Diana’s grave since she was laid to rest four years ago. “Prince Charles has an open invitation, as he knows, to come to the memorial but he has yet to take up that invitation,” Diana’s brother said during a Radio Five interview.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
