t last, some sporting joy for the Queen, who’s been self-isolating at Windsor Castle with Prince Philip since the beginning of lockdown.
The Cartier Queen’s Cup — the Champions League of the polo world — appeared to have fallen victim to the virus.
But I can disclose that the organisers’ determination to save the tournament, which is played at the Guards Polo Club in Windsor Great Park, has paid off.
Traditionally held in June, the first chukka has now been rescheduled for the end of July. ‘We’re all determined to go ahead,’ says my man with the polo stick.
It’s a delightful prospect for the Queen, who by then would normally have long since decamped to Balmoral.
She presented the Queen’s Cup — as it then was — in its inaugural year, 1960. Prince Philip twice reached subsequent finals, while Prince Charles went one better, winning the cup in 1986.
What odds on there being a regal — if socially distanced — spectator at its 60th anniversary?
* The Cartier Queen’s Cup — the Champions League of the polo world — appeared to have fallen victim to the virus, but has now been rescheduled for the end of July. Pictured: Her Majesty with Laurent Feniou at the 2019 competition