Ken Jones was true sporting royalty

YOUR caption with the photograph of the Duke of Edinburgh on page

3 of the Western Mail Weekend Magazine on April 7 was notable in its failure to note that it was the great Welsh Rugby player, Ken Jones who was presenting the Queen’s message to the Duke.

Ken Jones had been a well-known sprint athlete before achieving great fame on the rugby field. He had won silver medals as a member of the British 4x100m relay teams at the London Olympic Games in 1948 and the European Championships in Bern, Switzerland in 1954, as well as an individual bronze medal over 220 yards at the Empire Games in Vancouver, also in 1954.

Although he played in a then record 44 international rugby matches for Wales between 1947 and 1957 (being a member of Grand Slam-winning teams in 1950 and 1952) as well as playing three Tests for the 1950 Lions in New Zealand, Ken Jones will always be remembered for one particular event in his career. He was the right wing who scored that try, the one that brought Wales’s last victory over the All Blacks, in December 1953 at the Cardiff Arms Park.

Ken Jones was, thus, honoured with an important task at the 1958 Empire Games in Cardiff in recognition of his sporting achievements and so it was remiss to fail to mention true Welsh sporting royalty in describing the photograph.

Androw Bennett Llanarthne, Caerfyrddin