...and they could even lose their Golden Winkles
It IS a quintessentially British institution supported by generations of the Royal Family.
So Prince Harry was ‘delighted’ to accept an invitation to become a member of the Hastings Winkle Club in 2018.
Yet three years on, the club is still waiting for the duke and duchess to collect their honorary gifts.
Based in Sussex – the duchy Harry was granted after his marriage to Meghan – the charity for poor fishermen and their families also boasts Prince Philip among its ranks.
After the Duke of Sussex agreed to join, members donated £2,000 so a jeweller could make a gold winkle for him, as is tradition for distinguished invitees – and a gold winkle brooch for Meghan.
But the club has now felt the need to write a letter to check whether the duke and duchess really want the custom-made pieces after all. If they decide to cease their membership, the charity could invite William and Kate to join instead. While the 250 ordinary members of the Winkle Club – founded in 1900 – are each given a real winkle shell, filled with sealing wax, only a handful of gold winkles and brooches have ever been made.
the Duke of Edinburgh has one, as did Sir Winston Churchill. And the Queen Mother received one of their special brooches.
Responding to the offer of membership back in 2018, Harry’s private secretary had said the duke was ‘delighted to be honoured’, adding that he would ‘hopefully have the opportunity’ to accept his gold winkle ‘in the time honoured tradition’.
However, the winkle and brooch have not been collected are currently being kept in a safe. Last night, president of the club Richard Stevens said: ‘the Duke of Sussex accepted honorary membership of the Winkle Club in November 2018.
‘We realise we’re a long way down the priority list, but we’ve now drafted a letter to the Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex on how we can confirm that hopefully the duke will retain his honorary membership. We have his gold winkle and the duchess’s winkle brooch ready for presentation.’
He added: ‘If he relinquishes membership we’d be extremely disappointed – but this would present an opportunity to offer honorary membership to the Duke of Cambridge, and maybe Kate as well.’