Gordonstoun School's young sailors pay poignant tribute to Prince Philip at Hopeman
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GORDONSTOUN’S young sailors paid a poignant tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh today at Hopeman – a place where he spent many happy times.
Prince Philip developed his love of sailing through lessons at Hopeman while he was a pupil at the school in the 1930s.
Eight pupils boarded the school’s 80ft sail training boat, Ocean Spirit of Moray, where they cast a wreath into the Moray Firth in his memory.
On the shore, a lone student piper played beside a banner displaying the Duke of Edinburgh’s Coat of Arms, which was presented to the Gordonstoun pipe band by the Queen in 2019.
Gordonstoun principal Lisa Kerr said the day marked the end of a week of tributes from the Gordonstoun community to its oldest alumnus, Prince Philip.
She said: "It's a particularly special day.
"We devised this plan this week because we've been trying to think in these unusual times how we could pay tribute in a way that is suitable for the current circumstances but also for everything that Prince Philip stood for.
"That's why we've come to Hopeman Harbour – somewhere that we know was really important to him.
"It's where he learned to sail and build boats. He spent many of his happiest times here. He loved being here.
"We brought Ocean Spirit of Moray alongside – she is the boat on which our students currently sail from Scotland to the Arctic.
"When Prince Philip was at Gordonstoun he sailed from Buckie to Norway on Henrietta, the school's then ocean-going vessel, so again a real connection between Prince Philip's time in Moray and how Gordonstoun is today."
Mrs Kerr added: "Laying a wreath from Ocean Spirit feels to us the most fitting way to mark the life of a really remarkable man, who meant so much to Moray and to Gordonstoun and for whom Gordonstoun and Moray meant so much."
Regular sailor Isabel Edge (17) was one of the students to board the vessel.
She said: "It's really important to pay this tribute because the Duke of Edinburgh was so involved with sailing here, and it's quite cool that the students here get to experience that as well. It feels really special to be a part of it."
Josue Ahadi (17), from Rwanda, has a scholarship place at the school through the Prince Philip Gordonstoun Foundation, and says he likes the friendliness and humour of the Moray people. He said: "I'm very happy to be part of this event in memory of the Duke of Edinburgh. He was into helping other people."
Moray's Lord Lieutenant, Major General Seymour Monro, joined the school to pay tribute.
He said: "I knew the Duke of Edinburgh mostly through the Queen's Own Highlanders, which of course is the local regiment and I was a Queen's Own Highlander, and he used to visit us fairly regularly. His trips to the Queen's Own Highlanders were brilliant.
"He attended Gordonstoun in its formative years when they were creating their own dormitories, classrooms, clearing the ground for pitches. They had to create the school under the leadership of Kurt Hahn. I think all that were present at that time would have learned so many skills and principles for how to live life.
"His connections with Moray were very strong – connections which were part of the foundation for his later life.
"He was a wonderful man and a very special consort to the Queen and he has been such a wonderful part of the monarchy for the last 70-odd years. He leaves a great legacy.
"I can't think of anyone else in the United Kingdom who had such a broad spectrum of interests and was so good at encouraging everything that he was patron of or interested in.
"To think that he could well have gone on to become First Sea Lord if he hadn't become the Queen's consort is an indication of what a talented person he was. A man of vision, a man of confidence and brilliance, and just so good with such a wide range of people. A great communicator and practical – and how the Queen will miss him."
