HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh – 1921 to 2021
9th April 2021. The Club was saddened to hear the announcement that our Patron HRH The Prince Philip passed away peacefully at the age of 99 at Windsor Castle.
HRH The Prince Philip accepted Honorary Membership of the Club in 1948, becoming its Patron in 1954.
As our Patron, Prince Philip was always a great supporter of our club and its sporting ethos. He delighted all of those present when he attended our annual dinner at the RAC in 2017. Having been warned beforehand that he might not wish to speak and that we should not tire him, he entertained us with a delightful impromptu speech, reminiscing about playing squash in the Navy during and after the war and extolling the beneficial effects (particularly for the young) of playing amateur sport for fun.
He was awarded the Jester of the Year trophy at that dinner (this being the magnificent Cybis porcelain Jester figure donated to us by the US Jesters and housed at the RAC) which he was relieved that he did not have to take home, as he feared he would probably drop it! In true Jester fashion, he stayed on after the dinner to chew the cud with those present (much to the concern of his staff) and said, if necessary, he could easily walk home. It was a privilege to have him as our Patron and he, together with our other deceased members, will be greatly missed.
Click here https://www.thejestersclub.org/annual-dinner-2017-report/ for photos of the 2017 Annual dinner he attended.
Click here https://www.thejestersclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/DukeOfEdinburgh_portrait_AlexChamberlin-scaled.jpg to view the Club portrait of HRH, painted by Jester Alex Chamberlain.
