The Final Word

Of Culver and Kings and Royals, Past and Future

The passing of Queen Elizabeth II and the assumption to the crown of now King Charles has not only put England’s royal family in the international spotlight, but it’s no doubt stirred some memories for Culver graduates and staff of some remarkable past interactions.

Eddie Nowlin ’87 and Francisco Ramos Cardenas ’87, with Prince Charles in Oakbrook, Illinois.

Perhaps most notable was the escort of Prince Charles — now King Charles III — on Sept. 5, 1986, by 12 members of the Black Horse Troop’s Lancer Platoon during a polo match in Oakbrook, Illinois, between the United States and England (England eventually won what Director of Horsemanship Maj. R. Jeffrey Honzik H’65 called “a close game” 12-10). The Lancers escorted the prince onto the field, performed as color guard for the event, and provided halftime entertainment for its 7,000 spectators. At the time, Mauricio De La Torre ‘88 noted that the prince greeted Lancers with a quick “Hi” and “How are you?”

John Waggoner ‘88 summed up the event: “The most impressive thing is that Culver was the only high school unit invited to attend and perform.”

Similarly, select Troopers were joined by Culver’s concert band in September of 1978 in Lexington, Kentucky, for the nationally-televised World Three-Day Event Championships at the Kentucky Horse Park. In addition to Culver were the best horsemen from 17 countries, 70,000 spectators from around the world, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and husband of Queen Elizabeth.

Culver provided color guard, escort, and musical accompaniment, as Culver students played the national anthems of various winners at the awards ceremonies.

At one point, Honzik says he found himself in the press box with former Horsemanship Director Jack Fritz and Prince Philip himself.

“Jack is talking to the prince,” recalls Honzik, “and in come the Culver Troopers, and the prince says, ‘What a sharp group of young men!’ And Jack says, ‘They’re from Culver Military Academy.’“

What followed was a back-and-forth discussion between Prince Philip and Fritz as the latter sought to help the prince differentiate Culver from institutions such as the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and West Point, but instead as a private boarding high school in Indiana.

Of course, neither event was Culver’s first brush with international royalty. Among the plethora of dignitaries they have escorted or hosted, members of Culver’s Black Horse Troop escorted the Swasti Pradish ‘25, Crown Prince King and Queen of of Siam (now Thailand). Denmark in 1960 and Japanese Emperor Hirohito in 1975. And, among the many world leaders to attend Culver programs were Swasti Pradish ‘25, Crown Prince of Siam (today’s Thailand), and Crown Prince Alexander Karageorgevich II of Yugoslavia, who attended Culver Military Academy in 1960.

Crown Prince Alexander Karageorgevich II of Yugoslavia.

And, exhibiting Culver’s values of servant leadership for all the world to see, when Culver students aren’t escorting royals, they might also be rescuing them. Cadet Newland DePauw Knight ‘27 made headlines when Princess Ileana of Romania reported that the “most romantic thing” that happened on her American tour the previous winter was when she witnessed a car accident while passing through Rossville, Indiana, and felt faint. CMA Regimental Commander Knight and Regimental Adjutant Gene Culver had been sent along with the princess to escort her on a planned visit to the Culver campus (that visit didn’t happen at the time due to a change in plans, though the princess did visit Culver at a later date as part of an envoy of World War I-related dignitaries).

The princess’ mother, Queen Marie of Romania, told the Associated Press that her daughter “was quite overcome by the manliness and chivalry which was shown by the young student.”

Cadet Knight, however, reported that all he did “was to rub her feet and ankles and nothing romantic ever came of it.”

He added that he received a letter of thanks and a picture of the princess. “I did not reply to it.”

Not everyone can marry a Culver graduate and the loss, it would seem, was the princess’.