From the Post archives: Prince Charles bestows royal name, presence to polo club in Florida

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Editor's note: This story originally ran in the Palm Beach Post in 1989.

When the Prince of Wales inaugurates the Windsor Polo and Beach Club Saturday, he will be doing what comes naturally. After all, snipping ribbons, usually at factories, bridges and government projects, is part and parcel of his life's work.

The difference this time is that the heir to the British throne will be lending his presence, his family name-- Windsor-- and the prestige that comes with it to a commercial development owned by friends.

The embryonic polo club, 10 miles north of Vero Beach in Indian River County, is the brainchild of Geoffrey and Jorie Kent. He was born in East Africa, she's from Oak Brook, Ill., and together they own Abercrombie & Kent, a travel company specializing in expensive trips to exotic places. Geoffrey Kent and the prince have been playing polo together for years and founded the Windsor Park Polo Team in England in 1987.

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They will play for the team Saturday at the new club and Sunday at the Palm Beach Polo and Country Club in Wellington, where Charles has played four times before. Both matches will be sponsored by Rolex watch company.

In addition to their passion for polo, the Kents and the prince share an interest in wildlife. Prince Charles is a patron of Friends of Conservation, an organization founded by the Kents that seeks to protect endangered ecosystems, particularly in East Africa. The three visited the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania a year ago, shortly before Prince Charles' last visit to Palm Beach County.

Just as he did last March, Prince Charles will appear publicly this time on behalf of the conservation group, formerly known as Friends of the Masai Mara. Before Saturday's polo match near Vero Beach, the prince will attend a benefit reception with about 650 people, each of whom will have paid $175 to attend.

The next day, in Wellington, he will attend a $250-a-head luncheon for the same cause. He and 450 other guests will feast on scallops with wild greens and mushrooms, capons with rice and broccoli, French bread, strawberries, chocolate raspberry terrine and decaffeinated coffee.

Just as the prince's involvement in conservation is widely applauded, Britons living in the United States find nothing unseemly about Prince Charles' role in promoting the Kents' polo club development.

"It's not being called the Prince of Wales Polo Grounds," said Scotland- born philanthropist Celia Lipton Farris, who, as a young singer, performed before members of the royal family. "If you had His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales in the name, then of course he could never lend his whole title to something like that. He'd never do it in a million years."

There are no guidelines on what Prince Charles or any other member of the royal family may or may not do commercially, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said.

"Certainly it's fairly routine for members of the royal family to inaugurate buildings or cut ribbons," said the spokesman, who traditionally remains anonymous. "The main purpose of his going to Florida on those two days is in fact to play polo in aid of Friends of Conservation."

The royal family long has been a friend to business, usually in Britain or in Commonwealth nations. On most official overseas visits, Queen Elizabeth II, her husband and her offspring often make a point of attending events connected to British enterprises.

"I don't know if I can be described as a salesman," Prince Charles said in November 1985 after he and his wife had visited an exhibition of British goods at a JCPenney store in suburban Washington, "but I do try to create some interest in things British."

Chrissie Petrie, Jorie Kent's personal assistant, said there is no established protocol regarding use of the Windsor name.

"I don't think you have to (ask)," Petrie said. "But it's polite to do so."

Indian River County community leaders find the "Windsor" in the polo club's name charming, an understanding between Prince Charles and his friends. "I think it's lovely," said Linda Lindsey, president of the Vero Beach-Indian River County Board of Realtors. "I think he did it because the Kents are very good friends. That would be his main reason."

Mason Delafield, vice president of a 600-acre development being built to the south of the Kents' club, said Prince Charles' association with the polo club is "just a nifty little kickoff type of thing."

"Charles is not going to be selling real estate or anything."

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This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach Post archives: Prince Charles gives name to Florida club