No . 131 The Trusty Servant
HRH the Duke of Edinburgh , RIP Readers may be interested to hear or remember that Prince Philip visited Win Coll twice . His first visit was in 1955 , staying two steps behind the Queen as always as she was received Ad Portas . They returned in 1982 as part of the sixth centenary and visited different parts of the school . Prince Philip wanted to see the work of the CCF ( including an unarmed combat demonstration in which a pupil ’ s arm was broken ) and then he was taken to Science School to see various projects there , including a hovercraft .
Prince Philip ’ s funeral was conducted by the Dean of Windsor , who is David Conner , Chaplain at Win Coll from 1980-86 . The only hymn sung was ‘ Eternal Father , Strong to Save ’; the words were written in 1860 by William Whiting ( known as Hoppy because he was lame ), who was schoolmaster of the Quiristers from the early 1840s until his death in 1878 . The Quiristers lived and were taught in Cheyney Court which was then joined on to Nos . 5 and 6 College Street ( now demolished ). William Whiting and his family also lived there .
David Anderson ( Coll , 69-74 ) has informed us of another Wykehamical link with the Duke of Edinburgh . Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark was born on the dining-room table of Mon Repos , his family ’ s home in Corfu , in 1921 . A year later when his uncle King Constantine was forced to abdicate after the disaster of Greco- Turkish War , the family was hurriedly evacuated courtesy of the Royal Navy , but the table remained in situ until in 1932 the Greek Royal Family instructed their butler to sell all the furniture from their summer villa . Unsure how to go about this , the butler sought help from the British Consul , John Vaughan-Russell . Help was duly given , on condition that the Consul himself could purchase the table . It changed hands in 1933 for 28,500 Drachmas and was moved to the consulate in Patras , later going into storage . In 1977 Vaughan-Russell ’ s son sold it to a Director of Howe Robinson , the firm of which David is now Chairman .
George Eliot royalties
A new website for George Eliot scholars has been launched by the University of Nebraska . The Headmaster ’ s George Eliot Chronology , first published by Macmillan in 1989 , forms the basis for the biographical section , and thereby hangs a Wykehamical tale . Back in 1984 , when the contract was first signed , a clause was added called Electronic and Digital Rights . The author thought he need not take too much notice of these until stringent advice to the contrary by the Society of Authors ’ General Secretary , Mark Le Fanu ( E , 60-64 ). Just as well to be cautious , perhaps , given the contract was issued and signed by former Sen Co Prae Tim Farmiloe ( B , 48-53 ), then a Macmillan Director .
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