One of these celebrities, who contributed significantly to the continued development of the spa, was the great-great-grandfather of Prince Edward, King Edward VII. He founded the Marienbad golf course. During a recent visit to the Royal Golf Club in Marienbad, Prince Edward, the youngest son of England’s Queen Elizabeth II, killed two birds with one stone, so to speak.
Prince Edward’s great-great-grandfather, King Edward VII, had laid the cornerstone to the noble golf course, and its idyllic grassy meadows, one-hundred years earlier – almost exactly to that day. That gave cause for a celebration. Buckingham Palace promptly sent a member of the Royal Family to take part in the festivities. It worked out ideally that Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex, was also playing a major role in the globally-active youth sponsorship organization, “Edie”. A charity golf tournament was quickly organized, which was to be followed by a gala dinner. For those who were interested in taking part in the activities, their interest would not be cheap! 20,000 crowns, for a good cause, of course, had to be dished up in order to participate.
The festivities were truly “royal” in nature, not only in front of the newly renovated clubhouse, but also out on the 18-hole course itself. Prince Edward Anthony Richard Louis, Earl of Wessex, Viscount Severn, Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order shook many a golfer hand and stated very politely: "Nice to meet you" over and over again. It would have been cruel of us to expect more small talk than that, since it was 92° F outside on that day!
At a leisurely pace the guests continued on to a tour of the noble clubhouse facilities. Members of the press, who arrived in large numbers, were somewhat shocked about the security measures taken – practically none at all! This would have been entirely unthinkable at any other location.
The representatives of the youth sponsorship organization, “Edie” were delighted. Prince Edward’s visit brought about two million crowns into the cash register. “Splendid”, was the only word Pavel Zalesky could find to describe the day. He, as well as all of the other guests present, had long taken off their jacket and cummerbunds. All, except for, of course, the Earl of Wessex. He had come to Marienbad, without his wife, Sophie, nee Rhys-Jones, and decided to keep his jacket on, in spite of the heat and the sun blaring from the skies. Etiquette is, after all, etiquette.
The evening’s guests were delighted about the delicious things to eat during the gala evening. The festivities then drew to a close for the visit of the British Prince Edward in Marienbad. “King Edward VII visited our spa nine times. And now Prince Edward has also chosen our city to pay a short visit”, said Patricie Irlvekova from the Heilbad Marienbad AG, which was the official host of the Queen of England’s youngest son and also acted as the organization committee of the Prince’s program outside of the golf tournament.
The absolute culinary climax of the visit was the gala reception with a dinner and concert in the traditionally-rich Hotel Nove Lazne. Primarily sponsors took part in this portion of the program. The dinner menu included filleted, marinated tuna with vegetable brunoise and Parma ham, vegetable tartar with chervil oil and onion sprouts or grilled St. Jack, served with pumpkin cream. A tender creamed risotto, wolffish in a crispy skin, tomatoes and zucchini, foamed Riesling and limes or variations of baby fowl were all available to meet practically any taste. Drumsticks in a crispy, spicy batter, chicken breasts stuffed with duck liver, mashed sweet potatoes or a meat and vegetable stew with green asparagus and chervil icing were also offered to the guests.To close out the evening, Prince Edward said goodbye to the gathered guests, since he was being expected in Prague the next morning. Before leaving, though, he was able to spend the night in the architecturally unique five-star Hotel Nove Lazne, built in the year 1896. The same hotel was also visited by King Edward VII during the years from 1897 to 1909. King Edward’s royal chamber still exists in the hotel to this very day. Mineral baths are taken today in the same stylish manner as the King enjoyed taking them over one hundred years ago.
Further information:
http://www.marienbad.cz
Marienbad Kur & Spa Hotels
Masarykova 22
CZ-353 29 Marianske Lazne
Tel. : +420 354 655 501-4
Fax : +420 354 655 500
spa@marienbad.cz
http://www.marienbad.cz