PRINCE PHILIP AT SEVENOAKS
In the year the Duke of Edinburgh died , we remember his visit to Sevenoaks School in 1966 .
Over the centuries Sevenoaks School has provided the backdrop for several royal visits to the town , but we believe it was not until the mid-twentieth century that it first played the host when , on 20 July 1966 , Prince Philip , Duke of Edinburgh , came to the campus .
On a distinctly unsummery day , the last of the Summer term , he opened an extension to the Technical Activities Centre and planted a tree on Jockey ’ s Platch , all to the accompaniment of a series of his trademark jocular quips .
Originally expected to arrive at Duke ’ s Meadow by helicopter , instead the weather meant that the Duke drove himself to Sevenoaks ; Lord Sackville , the Chairman of Governors , reassured the welcoming crowds that since ‘ the Duke is a demon driver and [ going at ] a fast average speed ’ he would not be late for the engagement . However , the arrival under his own steam caused consternation for school marshal George Ball who , expecting a more regal mode of transport , tried to get the Land Rover to park unobtrusively in a corner of the School House ( Old School ) forecourt . According to one account the driver slid open his window and requested that George ‘ stop buggering me about !’
After a greeting by the Headmaster , Kim Taylor , the royal party made its way through the arch , past cheering pupils , towards an introduction to the senior staff lined up outside Johnson Hall . ‘ You ’ re going to get soaked ,’ he told the assembled crowd , heading into the hall where he was shown a closed-circuit radio system which informed points around the school of the Duke ’ s progress . ‘ Might have been more effective to use flags ,’ the Duke observed .
The party moved on across the campus to the Technical Activities Centre , opening the extension and looking at the science exhibits there . For Old Sennockian Tom Kennedy , then aged 13 , this involved demonstrating the ‘ steampunk ’ steam-powered radiocontrolled vehicle that he had designed and built :
‘ Disastrously , just as the royal party approached , I discovered that the methylated spirit burner that drove the steam engine had gone out ! This might have been because , about an hour beforehand I had done a trial run ( perfect of course !) but used up too
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