Fit for a king

The frst visit by a British reigning sovereign to the Hurlingham Club also marked the end of an era, says Nigel à Brassard, with the outbreak of war just weeks away

The photograph above, taken on 4 July 1914, shows the Royal Pavilion at the Hurlingham Club on an occasion described in the July edition of Polo Monthly as a ‘red-letter day’ in the annals of the club. On that Saturday afternoon, King George V and Queen Mary, accompanied by their son, the 20-year-old Prince of Wales, who would become Edward VIII, honoured the club with a visit to witness an exhibition match by the England team and the fnal of the Inter-Regimental competition. First played in 1878, the polo tournament remains the oldest in the world.

The England team, comprising Captains Henry Tomkinson, Leslie Cheape, Frederick Barrett and Vivian Lockett, had just returned from the United States, bringing back with them the America (Westchester) Cup, having lost the previous three tournaments. The international series between England and the United States dates back to 1876, when England took the frst victory. It was George V’s frst visit to the Hurlingham Club since his accession to the throne and the frst time a British reigning sovereign had visited the club. The weather was perfect, and the matches drew an exceptionally large crowd.

The King, the Queen and the Prince of Wales were joined by the Queen’s brothers – Adolphus, the Duke of Teck, and Prince Alexander of Teck – and their wives, along with the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Queen Victoria’s grandson. The Times noted that Her Majesty wore ‘a gown of white embroidery with touches of black velvet and was lightly veiled in black tulle, her hat trimmed with black velvet and marabou’.

Their Majesties ‘showed keen interest in the polo’, it was said, and the Queen later presented the Inter-Regimental Cup to Captain Thomas Badger of the 12th Lancers, who had defeated the 1st Life Guards. They stayed to witness a wonderful display of aerobatics that included both upside-down fying and looping by Bentfeld Hucks in his Blériot monoplane.

At a celebratory dinner for the England polo team at the Hurlingham Club a few days later, on 8 July, Viscount Valentia proposed a toast in which he recounted: ‘Almost the last words that the King addressed to Captain Barrett, when he visited us on Saturday afternoon last, were, “Mind – the Westchester Cup must never go back!” ’ The diners were said to have responded with laughter and cheers.

Less than two months after this photograph was taken, Great Britain declared war on Germany. Polo virtually came to a standstill in Britain, and it was not until 1921 that the country was ready to accept a challenge to play again for the Westchester Cup.

Sadly for George V and Great Britain, the cup returned to the US in 1921 and stayed there until 1997, when England won it back. It has remained here ever since, in spite of two American challenges in 2009 and 2013.

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