'I’m surprised they haven’t built on the polo pitch' - Prince Philip in Malta

When the late Prince Philip visited Malta’s Polo Club 15 years ago, he expressed surprise that the pitch had not yet been taken over by construction. That’s a memory shared by the club’s honorary secretary Jean Vella. Polo was one of the Duke of Edinburgh’s many passions. He would often play the sport while stationed in Malta in the 1950s, said Vella, who also met Prince Philip in 2015. And whenever he visited the island following Independence in 1964, he always made time for the club. During one such visit, in 2005, then president of the club Anthony Farrugia met the Duke, who recounted happy memories of playing polo in Marsa and enquired about how the sport was doing at the time. Vella said that during this conversation, Prince Philip quipped: “I’m surprised they haven’t built on the polo pitch yet”, presumably referring to the significant construction that had taken place in Malta since his previous visit. 'The man who gets the blame for your mistakes' One of the people who remember Prince Philip playing polo in the 1950s is Edgar Wadge, who later became financial secretary in the Ministry of Finance. He met Prince Philip in person in May of 1992 during a state...