Thinking about Prince Philip in a quarter of hour

Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II

Commonwealth Games, Aug 3 1978 in Edmonton.

A crowd of 45,000 people packed Edmonton’s newly-built Commonwealth Stadium for the opening ceremony, which was televised around the world. They rose and applauded as the royal party entered the stadium.

Irish boxer Barry wins the bantamweight gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, August 1978.

I won the Ulster juvenile title a year earlier then went straight in and won the Ulster seniors at 16. Prince Phillip watched my winning bout in the bantamweight final. Years later I attended an event at the Palace for world champions across all sports. Then Queen said, “Oh, you were in Edmonton.” I said yes, your husband was there. And she replied quick as a flash, “Excuse me, I was there too.” It was an honour to meet the Queen and it was from the Commonwealth Games that she remembered me.

Happy days.

The 1956 Olympic Games, Melbourne.

0n 22 November 1956, Prince Philip opened the Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia. He is seen here being driven into the main Olympic arena prior to the opening ceremony. The Melbourne Games were the first to be held south of the equator.

Zenon Stefaniuk, Poland Bantamweight Boxer.

Eastern Europe, particularly European Championships finalists Zenon Stefaniuk of Poland, was favoured in this event but the man was eliminated in their first bouts.

Wolfgang Behrendt, German Bantamweight Boxer.

He became the first boxer from the GDR to win an Olympic title although it should be pointed out that East and West competed in a combined German team in 1956.