Remembering the Duke of Edinburgh

Keron Steele C'76 has been sharing his memories of the late Prince Philip with us as some years ago he was lucky enough to interview him as part of a feature on carriage driving. 

Keron tell us "I had been shooting a series of features about women competing in top level, largely male dominated, sports at the time. This particular film was about Karen Bassett, who was qualifying for the Carriage Driving World Championships. The Duke, who had competed in four world championships by that time, was still overseeing the FEI (Federation Equestre International). The event was to be held at the Royal Estate of Sandringham and I had put in a request to speak with him about his part in setting out the rules and regulations governing the sport some 30 years before. I had no expectation of him saying yes. I arrived at the event with my Aussie cameraman, Alby, to be told he would see us in 25 mins time. A hasty setup followed, then a nervy half hour interview with HRH".

"What an amazing chap he was" Keron continues, "incredibly generous with his time and patience to a newbie. The only thing that saved me was that I think he could tell that I'd done my homework. The interview was aired on Trans World Sport as part of my film on Karen. I received a terrific thank you letter from the Palace, and now feel privileged to have had that time with him".

Keron goes on to say that he thinks the Duke did a lot behind the scenes for sport accessibility over the years, but tended not to blow his own trumpet about it! There have been many similar statements about the Duke over the last few days from people who met him.

Keron has had a long career as a TV sound engineer and has covered many major sporting events around the world.

One of Prince Philip’s greatest legacies is the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme, which Worth School has run for many years as a Licensed Centre. There are quite a few Worthians who completed their Gold level and were awarded by the Duke himself. We would love to hear your memories of meeting him  - do share them in the comments below:

HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Rest in Peace