Guards Polo Club
Guards Polo Club is a polo club associated with the British Royal Family. [1] HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh has been President of the club since its formation in 1955. [2]
It is based at Smiths Lawn, in Windsor Great Park, near Windsor Castle, England where the club has ten polo pitches on 53 hectares (130 acres) and stables, paddocks and training facilities four miles away at Flemish Farm.
The name derives from the Guards Division of the British Army. Guards officers are exempt from the playing members' entrance fee, which is £17,000 in addition to the annual subscription of £5,450 (as at 2008). [3]
It claims on its website to have the largest membership of any polo club in Europe, in spite of its perceived exclusiveness and the difficulty in becoming a member (it has a very long waiting-list) and is one of the four polo clubs in the United Kingdom that stage elite High Goal tournaments (the others being the Cirencester Park, Cowdray Park and Royal Berkshire polo clubs). [4]
The most prestigious day on the Guards Polo Club's calendar is the Hurlingham Polo Association's International Day (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Cartier International). Always held at the end of July, it is a highlight of the British social Season and attracts crowds of over 20,000 people. [5]
The club's main official tournaments are the Queen's Cup (High Goal), Royal Windsor (Medium Goal) and the Archie David (Low Goal), all of which take place in June.