Memory of the Duke

I WAS one of the Kenya Olympians at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics (in the hockey team). One afternoon the

Duke of edinburgh dropped into the Olympic village where I was resting on my back.

On his unexpected visit, I stood up to greet him but he put me at ease, telling me to sit down and relax. ‘how are the boys from the land of sunshine and laughter doing in the Games?’ he asked.

Before leaving, the Duke mentioned his memorable visit to Kenya with the then Princess elizabeth, who went up the Treetops as a princess and came down as the Queen.

Later, when he left Melbourne to return to the royal Yacht Britannia, someone uttered ‘ See you later, alligator’ and the Duke replied: ‘After a while, crocodile.’

We were amused by his sense of humour and presence of mind. JINDI DHILLON, Folkestone, Kent.